MIUmiE  WILLIAMS.    ADELE  OOVELLE. 
ALDINE  WiLNDA.— AplbenRuB    ub    CBBe    E 
\j         lObU  PRB«B  ABfiuctt  PCAeUeBu  RubwFR    Alao^ 
^         I*:    PKftaAB    i^bepBa.      Address  GEOEGE    S.    ^BA-  ^ 

X         HAM,  CSIj  Hall,  PMladeli)hJa,  Penn.,  U.  S.  A, 


THB   BXfXlUOT    ATTOBN£T    AJTD   MATOS 
OF  FMIIJU;>£I<PHIA« 


The 

Holmes -Pite^el 

HISTORY 

OF   THE 

Greatest  Crime  of  the  fentury 

AND  OF  THE 

SEARCH   FOR   THE  MISSING 
PITEZEL  CHILDREN 

BY 

DETECTIVE    FRANK    P.  QEYER 

OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  POLICE,  DEPARTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  SAFETY, 
OF  THE  CITY  OF  PHILADELPHIA 

A  TRUB  DBTECTIV^  STORY 


By  permission  of  the  District  Attorney  and  Mayor  of  the 
City  of  Philadelphia 


FULLY  ILLUSTRATED 


PUBLISHERS'  UNION 
1896 


COPYEIGHT  1896 
BY 

FRANK  P.  GEYER 


eHltA^ELPJilA 


eeORGC^S.  GRAHAM, 


c^    ^^  Z^^"  ^^  -^^^^U^  a^^ 


^k4MZZtcyfli^;i^.^y  c^^viJ^M^i^ 


^-^a^*?^^^  <:%j^^«<^^ 


ya...<y^  y. 


_  PHILAPELPHIA 


PREFACE. 


It  is  not  possible  to  find  in  the  annals  of  crim- 
inal jurisprudence,  a  more  deliberate  and  cold 
blooded  villain  than  the  central  figure  in  this  story, 
nor  would  the  most  careful  research  among  the 
records  of  the  prominent  murder  trials  that  have 
absorbed  public  attention  during  the  past  century, 
disclose  the  careful  planning  that  made  possible  the 
apprehension  of  Holmes,  the  prosecution  to  an 
almost  miraculous  ending  of  the  search  for  the 
missing  children,  or  the  equal  of  the  forensic  skill 
and  cunning  that  wove  the  close  web  in  which  this 
man  of  many  names  and  many  murders  was  en- 
tangled. 

That  Holmes  committed  four  murders  has 
been  proven  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  and 
that  his  timely  arrest  prevented  three  more  mur- 
ders is  ecLually  sure.  If  the  Chicago  "Castle" 
could  give  up  its  guilty  secrets,  there  is  more  than 
a  strong  suspicion  that  the  list  of  Holmes  crimes 
would  be  materially  lengthened.  We  do  know  that 
fraud,  deliberately  planned  and  coolly  executed,  the 
blackest  treachery  toward  his  associates,  a  long  term 
of  brutal  cruelty  toward  the  helpless  woman  and  her 
children  who  were  in  his  clutches,  and  the  marvel- 
ous duplicity  and  falsehood  practiced  upon  the 
three  women  who  each  believed  herself  to  be  his 
lawful  wife,  are  to  be  added  to  the  list. 

A  remarkable  thing  about  a  murderer  who  has 


ackieved  the  notoriety  of  Holmes,  is  the  fact  that 
no  flowers  nor  gifts  were  sent  to  him  by  morbid 
sympathizers.  The  story  of  the  search  for  the 
missing  children  reads  like  a  romance,  and  its 
almost  miraculous  conclusion  is  another  proof  that 
detective  acumen  and  tireless  patience  will  find  the 
unguarded  spot  which  always  exists  in  the  armor 
of  the  most  wily  criminal.  The  reader  will  echo 
the  remarks  of  the  learned  judge,  who,  in  charging 
the  jury  that  convicted  Holmes,  said:  "Truth  is 
Stranger  than  Fiction,  and  if  Mrs.  Pitezel's  Story 
is  true— (and  it  was  proven  to  be  true)— it  is  the 
Most  Wonderful  Exhibition  of  the  Power  of  Mind 
Over  Mind  I  Have  Ever  Seen,  and  Stranger  than 
any  Novel  I  Have  Ever  Read." 

It  is  fitting  that  this  true  story  that  outrivals 
fiction  should  be  published.  The  tone  of  the  narra- 
tive is  wholesome.    Even  youth  may  profit  by  it. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGE 

Who  was  Perry  ? 13 

CHAPTER  II. 
lusurance  Money  Claimed     .         .         .         .         .  23 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Insurance  Co,  Suspicious        ....  43 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Clang  of  the  Cell-Door  ....  53 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Wages  of  Sin 99 

CHAPTER  YI. 

In  the  Toils  138 

CHAPTER  VII. 
' '  A  Slippery  and  Subtle  Knave "  .         .  145 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Pitezel  Children 155 

CHAPTER  IX. 
On  the  Trail 173 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Untiring  Pursuit    .         .         .         .         .        .         183 

CHAPTER  XI. 

An  Expert  in  Crime 203 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Search  Rewarded 215 


CHAPTER  Xni.  PAGE 

Forging  the  Links        ......        237 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
How  to  Find  the  Boy 255 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Detective  Puzzled 267 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Beginning  of  the  End 281 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
"When  He  Came" 289 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Chain  Complete 299 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Justice  Cried  "  Amen  " 305 

CHAPTER   XX. 
Looking  Backward 317 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
A  Triple  Alliance 325 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
A  Friend  in  Kced 333 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
The  Excluded  Testimony 337 

CHAPTER  XXrV\ 

Chronology  346 

APPENDIX  I. 

Speech  of  Hon.  George  S.  Graham       ...        371 

APPENDIX  II. 

Motion  for  New  Trial 406 

APPENDIX  III. 
The  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court     ,         .         .         489 


List  of  Illustrations^ 


PAGE 

No.  131''   /'allowhill  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.         ,         .     19 

Alice  Pitezel 38 

Benjamin  F.  Pitezel 55 

RearofNo.  1316CallowhillSt 74 

Holmes' "  Castle  "  at  Chicago,  Ills.  ...     91 

Poplar  Street  House,  Cincinnati,  Ohio  .  .  .  110 
No  26  Winooski  Ave.,  Burlington,  Vt.  .  .  .127 
Fac-simile  of  Holmes'  Letter  to  District   Attorney 

Graham 149 

Fac-simileof  the  Worthless  Promissory  Note     .         .160 

Detective  Frank  P.  Geyer 182 

Nellie  Pitezel 199 

Howard  Pitezel  .         ...         .         .         .   218 

No.  241  Forest  Ave.,  Detroit,  Mich.  .        .         .235 

Rear  of  No,  241  Forest  Ave 254 

Fac-simile  of  Alice' s  Letter  to  Her  Grandparents  264,  265 
No  16  St.  Vincent  St.,  Toronto,  Canada  .  .  .  275 
Spade  Used  by  Holmes  in  Burying  Alice  and  Nellie  294 
Little  Teeth  of  Howard  Pitezel  .         .        .         .311 

Cottage  at  Irviugton,  Ind 362 

Rear  of  Cottage  at  Irvington,  Ind 379 

Fac-simile  of  Letter  from  "Jim''  to  Holmes  .  .  398 
Fac-simile  of  the  "Ritual"   Letter.  .         .         .    415 


"Foul  Deeds  will  rise, 
though  all  the  earth  o'erwhelm  them,  to  men's  eyes." 


"  Let  guilty  men  remember,  their  black  deeds. 
Do  lean  on  crutches  made  of  slender  reeds." 


THE  HOLMES-PITEZEL  CASE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHO   WAS   PERRY? 


Meeting  of  Eugeue  Smith  and  B.  F.  Perry — Smith  sees 
Holmes — Perry  disappears — Discovery  of  a  Corpse — Con- 
dition of  the  Corpse — Coroner's  Inquest — Identification  as 
Perry, 

I^r  the  latter  part  of  August,  1894,  Eugene 
Smith,  a  house  carpenter,  was  passing  along  Cal- 
lowhill  Street,  between  Thirteenth  and  Broad 
Streets,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  when  his  at- 
tention was  attracted  by  a  somewhat  conspicuous 
sign  in  the  bulk  window  of  the  house  numbered 
1316.  The  house  was  one  of  a  row  of  red  brick, 
two  and  a  half  stories  high,  and  immediately  op- 
posite the  old  abandoned  station  of  the  Philadel- 
phia &  Reading  Railroad.  The  sign  was  made 
out  of  a  sheet  of  muslin  stretched  across  the  win- 
dow, and  on  it  was  printed  in  black  and  red  let- 
ters, "  B.  F.  Perry,  Patents  Bought  and  Sold." 

(13) 


14  SMITH  SEES  HOLMES. 

Smith  was  an  inventor  and  had  recently  pat- 
ented an  ingenious  device  for  a  saw  sett  which  he 
was  very  desirous  of  turning  into  money.  So 
stopping  a  moment,  he  decided  to  seek  the  advice 
and  assistance  of  Perrj-,  wlio  was  in  tlie  business 
of  buying  and  selling  patents. 

When  Smith  walked  into  the  store,  he  was 
greeted  by  a  tall,  raw-boned  man,  witli  a  some- 
what sharp  countenance,  who  announced  himself 
as  the  proprietor  Perry,  and  who  readily  listened 
to  Smith's  explanation  of  the  merits  of  his  new 
saw  sett.  Perry  requested  Smith  to  furnish  him 
with  a  model  of  his  invention,  which  the  latter 
promised  to  do. 

The  next  day  Smith  called  again,  taking  with 
him  the  model,  the  merits  of  which  he  explained 
more  fully  and  in  greater  detail.  In  the  course 
of  the  conversation,  Smith  informed  Perry  that 
he  was  a  carpenter  by  trade  and  was  anxious  to 
secure  work,  whereupon  Perry  employed  him  to 
construct  a  rough  counter  required  for  business 
purposes,  in  the  first  floor  storeroom  of  the 
house.  It  was  while  working  at  this  counter, 
that  Smith  saw  a  man  enter,  give  a  sign  to  Perry, 
and  pass  up  the  stairway  in  the  rear  of  the  front 
room,  into  the  upper  or  second  story  of  the  house. 


WHO    WAS  PERRY?  15 

Perry  followed  this  man  upstairs  and  shortly  re- 
turned to  the  first  floor  and  resumed  his  conversa- 
tion with  Smith.  Smith  never  saw  this  man  at 
the  house  but  once,  but  he  afterwards  identified 
him  as  H.  H.  Holmes. 

In  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  September  3d, 
Smith  called  at  No.  1316  to  see  Perry  again,  and 
to  ascertain  if  any  progress  had  been  made  in  the 
sale  of  the  patent.  As  he  stepped  into  the  store, 
he  discovered  it  was  vacant,  and  observed  also 
that  there  was  no  one  in  the  rear  room  of  the  first 
floor.  Thinking  that  Perry  was  in  the  upper 
floor,  or  was  temporarily  absent  upon  an  errand 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  Smith  took  a 
seat,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  the 
contents  of  the  store.  On  a  nail  were  hanging  a 
hat  and  a  pair  of  cuffs,  and  on  the  counter  were 
several  bottles  and  a  few  other  articles  of  incon- 
siderable value,  which  appeared  to  make  up  the 
stock  in  trade  of  the  patent  dealer.  After  wait- 
ing a  short  time.  Smith  halloed  at  tlie  top  of  his 
voice,  but  received  no  answer.  He  then  went 
out  and  asked  a  neighbor  if  she  had  seen  Perry 
about.  She  told  him  that  very  often  Mr.  Perry 
went  around  the  corner  to  a  saloon  and  would 
probably    return   shortly.      Smith   remained   for 


16  PERRY  DISAPPEARS. 

half  an  hour,  and  then  as  Peiry  did  not  letuni,  he 
departed,  closing  the  door  ufier  him.  Saiilli  \\as 
annoyed  at  Ids  i'ailure  to  see  Peny,  and  also  be- 
cause the  place  had  been  left  (^pen  and  aj  piaently 
uuprotected,  and  he  made  it  a  point  to  re'aun 
early  the  next  morning,  Tuesday  the  -1th  in.st. 
He  found  the  door  shut,  but  not  locked,  just  as 
he  had  left  it.  The  chair  in  which  he  had  si.t  the 
day  before,  was  in  the  same  place  he  had  left  it, 
and  apparently  had  not  been  moved.  The  hat 
and  cuffs  still  hung  upon  the  nail.  He  hallooed; 
"Perry"  several  times,  but  received  no  answer. 
He  then  walked  up  the  stairs  leading  to  the 
second  floor,  and  looking  towards  the  front  room, 
observed  a  cot,  but  it  was  unoccupied.  He  then 
turned  to  the  left  and  looking  into  the  back  room, 
his  gaze  met  a  sight  that  chilled  his  blood.  Ly- 
ing prostrate  on  the  floor,  with  his  feet  towards 
the  window,  and  his  head  to  the  door,  was  a  man, 
dead, — the  face  disfigured  beyond  recognition  by 
decomposition  and  burning,  and  surrounded  ap- 
parently by  evidences  of  an  explosion.  The  sun 
was  shining  brightly  through  the  window,  and 
directly  on  the  upper  part  of  the  body,  and  it 
needed  no  second  glance  from  Smith  to  convince 
him  of  his  duty  to  summon  the  police. 


WHO    WAS  PERRY f  17 

Leaving  the  house  without  delay,  he  hurried  to 
the  nearest  station  house  and  returned  with  two 
officers,  who  on  their  way,  stopped  for  Dr.  Scott, 
the  nearest  physician. 

The  upper  part  of  the  body  was  found  to  be 
much  decomposed.  The  left  arm  was  extended 
along  and  close  to  the  left  side,  the  right  arm 
across  the  breast, — altogether  a  very  peaceful 
posture.  He  was  rigid  and  straight  as  if  lie 
had  been  ceremoniously  laid  out  in  death.  The 
left  side  of  the  shirt  and  the  left  brenst  had 
been  burned,  and  the  nuistailie  on  one  side  and 
the  forelock  of  hair  was  singed.  The  body  under 
the  arm  was  not  burned  at  all.  From  the  mouth 
had  flowed  a  consideiable  quantity  of  fluid, 
slightly  tinged  with  blood,  which  stained  tlie  floor 
for  a  foot  or  two  alongside  the  bod}-. 

By  reason  of  decomposition  and  the  burns,  it 
seemed  impossible  to  identify  the  body  lo  a  cer- 
tainity,  as  that  of  Perry,  although  the  clothing 
was  the  same  which  Smith  had  seen  Perry  wear. 
The  color  of  the  hair  and  the  length  of  tlie  body, 
and  the  general  appearance  was  the  san:ie  as 
Perry.  At  the  side  of  the  body  lay  the  fragments 
of  a  large  brcken  bottle,  a  pipe  filled  with  tobacco 
and  a  burnt  match.     The  tobacco  in  the  pipe  had 


18  CONDITION  OF  THE  CORPSE. 

been  but  slightly  charred.  The  outside  window 
shutters  were  bowed,  the  window  was  up,  and  the 
fireboard  at  the  chimney  near  which  the  body  lay 
was  open  at  an  angle  of  about  eight  inches. 

The  body  was  at  once  removed  to  the  city 
morgue,  ivhich  is  in  the  immediate  rear  of  No.  1316 
Callowhill  Street.,  and  on  the  same  day  the  cor- 
oner's physician  made  an  autops3^  The  brain 
was  normal,  the  body  well  nourished,  the  lungs 
were  congested,  the  heart  empty  and  normal  and 
free  from  clots,  indicating  that  death  had  been 
very  rapid  with  him.  The  stomach  exhibited 
alcoholic  irritation  and  emitted  a  strong  odor  of 
chloroform.  Whatever  caused  death,  caused  pa- 
ralysis of  the  involuntary  muscles,  as  the  bladder 
had  emptied  and  regurgitation  took  place  from 
the  mouth,  where  the  body  lay. 

The  burns  on  the  body  as  described,  were  also 
noted  by  the  coroner's  physician.  An  inquest  by 
the  coroner  quickly  followed  and  a  verdict  of 
death  from  congestion  of  the  lungs,  caused  by  the 
inhalation  of  flame,  or  of  chloroform  or  other  poi- 
sonous drug  was  rendered ;  although  the  coroner's 
physician  testified  that  he  believed  death  was  due 
to  chloroform  poisoning.  The  police  and  the  few 
neighbors  of  the  vicinity  discussed  the  case  in  a 


No.  1316  Callowhill  St.,  PHrLADELPHiA,  Pa. 

(  Where  Holmes  murdered  B.  F  Pitezel ) 


WHO    WAS  PERRY?  21 

desultory  sort  of  a  way  for  some  days.  The  cor- 
oner's jury  had  found  the  body  to  be  that  of  B. 
F.  Perry,  and  the  question  of  the  identification  of 
the  body  as  Perry  appeared  to  be  established. 

But  who  was  Perry?  From  whence  had  he 
come?  Was  he  murdered  or  had  he  committed 
suicide  ?  Or  was  he  killed  by  the  explosion  of  an 
inflammable  substance  in  the  bottle  which  was 
found  broken  at  his  side?  He  appeared  to  have 
just  lighted  his  pipe.  Was  this  the  act  which 
ignited  the  flame  that  destroyed  his  life  ?  If  so, 
how  came  his  body  to  recline  in  sucli  a  peaceful 
attitude?  But  the  lungs  were  found  to  be  con- 
gested, and  the  stomach  when  opened,  gave  forth 
a  distinct  odor  of  chloroform.  Could  lie,  in  com- 
mitting suicide,  have  caused  the  explosion  when 
dying?  If  he  had  inhaled  chloroform,  how  came 
this  drug  in  the  stomach  ?  These  and  a  thousand 
other  questions  were  propounded,  only  to  be  un- 
answered. It  was  a  mystery,  and  the  solution  did 
not  appear  to  be  in  sight. 


CHAPTER  II. 

INSURANCE  MONEY  CLAIMED. 

Letters  from  Jeptha  D.  Howe — Cashier  Cass  Calls  on  Mrs. 
Holmes — Holmes  Writes  to  Cass — Holmes  Calls  on  Presi- 
dent Foiise — Howe  Presents  Letter  of  Attorney  from  Mrs. 
Pitezel — Perry  and  Pitezel  tlie  Same — President  Fouso 
Talks  with  Alice — Holmes  Meets  Howe — Marks  of  Identi- 
fication—The Body  Disinterred— Howe  Paid  $9,715.85 
Insurance  Money — Affidavits  of  Alice  Pitezel  aud  H.  H. 
Holmfes — Smith  Fails  to  Recognize  Holmes. 

In  all  great  cities,  unclaimed  bodies  are  held  at 
the  morgue  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  to  await 
identification  and  a  claimant.  Perry's  body  lay  in 
the  Philadelphia  Morgue  for  eleven  days,  and 
was  then  buried  in  the  Potters  Field. 

Before  the  burial,  however,  two  letters  were  re- 
ceived in  Philadelphia,  one  by  the  coroner,  and 
the  other  by  the  officers  of  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life 
Association.  These  letters  came  from  Jeptha  D. 
Howe,  a  young  attorney  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 
He  stated  that  he.  represented  Mrs.  Carrie  A. 
Pitezel,  the  wife  of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  That 
Pitezel    was  insured   in   the  Fidelity   Company 

(22) 


84         CASHIER   CASS  CALLS  OX  MRS.  HOLMES. 

for  Ten  Thousand  Dollars  and  that  his  wife  was 
the  beneficiary  named  in  the  policy.  That  the 
man  who  was  found  dead  at  No.  1316  Callow- 
hill  Street,  and  who  was  known  as  B.  F. 
Perry,  was  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  and  tliat  he 
(Howe)  would  shortly  visit  Philadelphia  with  a 
member  of  the  Pitezel  family  for  the  purpose  of 
identifying  the  body,  and  claiming  the  insurance 
money. 

The  books  of  the  company  showed  that  a 
policy  had  been  issued  on  the  life  of  Benjamin 
F.  Pitezel  on  November  9th,  1893,  and  that 
the  insurance  had  been  effected  through  the 
branch  office  of  the  company  in  Chicago, 
Illinois. 

A  communication  was  at  once  forwarded  by 
the  company  to  its  manager  in  Chicago,  instruct- 
ing him  to  learn  all  that  was  possible  concerning 
Pitezel,  and  particularly  to  ascertain  the  names 
of  persons  who  had  known  Pitezel  in  Chicago. 
The  situation  as  presented  to  the  officers  of  the 
company  at  this  time,  aroused  their  suspicions, 
and  they  proceeded  with  caution. 

The  company  then  received  word  from  Mr. 
Cass,  the  cashier  of  the  Chicago  office,  that 
the    only   man   who   knew  Pitezel  well,  was  H. 


iXtiUEAJS'CE  MONEY   CLAIMED.  25 

H.  Holmes,  who  lived  at  Wiliiiette,  Illinois. 
Mr.  Cass  was  instructed  to  go  to  Wilmette  and 
interview  Holmes.  He  found  that  Holmes  was 
away,  but  he  saw  Mrs.  Hohnes,  who  offered  to 
communicate  with  her  liusband.  She  said  her 
husband  was  moving  about  all  the  time  anil  was 
not  at  home,  but  that  she  would  communicate 
anything  to  him  the  agent  had  to  say.  She 
would  not  tell  the  agent  tvhere  her  husband  was, 
although  she  admitted  slie  heard  from  him  every 
day  or  so.  Mr.  Cass  gave  the  woman  a  clipping 
from  a  Chicago  paper,  which  stated  that  Perry 
had  been  found  in  Chicago^  and  she  promised  to 
send  it  to  her  husband. 

On  September  18th,  tlie  Chicago  manager  of 
the  company  received  a  letter  from  Holmes, 
dated  Columbus,  Oliio,  September  17th,  and  the 
next  day  a  second  letter,  dated  Cincinnati,  Sep- 
tember 19th. 

These  two  letters  here  given  in  full,  exhibit  the 
enormous  capacity  of  Mr.  Holmes  for  duplicity 
and  deceit.  In  view  of  the  subsequent  develop- 
ments of  the  case,  they  portray  his  niaiiy  resour- 
ces for  meeting  an  occasion,  and  a  sagacity, 
which  would  have  served  him  well,  had  he  chosen 
to  earn  an  honest  living. 


'26  SOLMES   WRITES  fO  CASS. 

Columbus,  Ohio, 

Sept.  17,  1894. 
E.  H.  Cass,  Esq., 

R.  46,-115  Dearborn, 

Chicago, 
Dear  Sir  : — 

I  am  iu  receipt  of  a  letter  from  my 
wife,  stating  that  you  called  on  her  in  regard  to 
Mr.  Pitezel.  She  also  enclosed  me  clipping  from 
paper,  which  I  presume  j^ou  gave  her.  Tlie  ad- 
dress given  in  same  is  wrong.  It  should  be  Madi- 
son St.  or  Avenue  on  the  south  side  of  the  city,  and 
if  I  remember  correctly,  it  is  No.  6343,  as  stated 
in  the  clipping.  At  all  events  it  is  very  near  the 
63rd  Street  entrance  to  the  World's  Fair  grounds, 
in  some  hotel  that  was  formerly  used  as  a  flat 
building  and  on  E.  side  of  Street. 

Following  tlie  question  asked,  I  would  say,  that 
I  do  not  know  who  did  his  dental  work,  thougli  I 
do  not  think  he  took  ver}^  good  care  of  his  teeth 
and  may  have  had  none  done. 

I  remember  that  seven  or  eight  years  ago  when 
working  for  me,  he  had  to  give  up  work  for  some 
time  on  account  of  neuralgia  in  his  teeth.  Mr. 
Fay  should  be  able  to  identify  him  readily,  as  he 
knew  him  quite  well,  as  I  remember  Chat  when 
Mr.  Fay  and  I  occupied  an  office  on  Dearborn 
Street,  Mr.  Pitezel  was  there  almost  daily,  he 
having  a  patent  coal  bin  on  exhibition  there.  In 
a  general  why  I  should  describe  Ijim  a  man  nearly 


INSURANCE  MONk^  CLAIMED.  21 

six  feet  high,  (at  least  five  feet  ten  inches)  always 
thin  in  flesh  and  weighing  from  one  hundred  and 
forty-five  to  one  hundred  and  fiftj'-five  fbs.,  hav- 
ing very  black  and  somewhat  coarse  hair,  very 
thick,  with  no  tendency  towards  baldness ;  his 
mustache  was  a  much  lighter  color  and  I  think  of 
a  red  tinge,  though  1  have  seen  him  have  it  col- 
ored black  at  times,  which  gave  him  quite  a  dif- 
ferent appearance.  I  remember  also  that  he  had 
some  trouble  with  his  knees,  causing  them  to  be- 
come enlarged  directly  below  or  in  front  of  same, 
as  a  result  of  floor  laying  when  he  was  in  the  con- 
tracting business,  but  wliether  this  was  a  tempor- 
ary or  permanent  affair,  I  am  unable  to  state. 
He  also  Ijad  some  sort  of  a  warty  growth  on  tlie 
back  or  side  of  his  neck,  which  prevented  him 
from  wearing  a  collar  when  working.  Aside  from 
these  points,  I  can  think  of  nothing  to  distinguish 
liim  from  other  men,  unless  it  be  that  his  forehead 
was  lower  than  the  average  and  crown  of  head 
higher,  causing  one  to  notice  same.  I  do  remem- 
ber, however,  that  he  had,  or  at  least  had  late  in 
1893  a  boy  about  twelve  years  of  age  who  looked 
so  much  like  him,  that  if  compared  with  body 
supposed  to  be  his  father  would  show  the  identity 
I  should  think,  and  if  he  is  still  unburied,  there 
are  plenty  of  people  there  who  have  known  him 
intimately,  among  them  being  a  Mr.  Heywood, 
near  69th  and  Peoria  or  Paulina  Streets,  who 
is,  I  think,  a  relative ;  also  a  Mr.  William  Coyler 


28  HOLMES    WRITES   TO   CASS. 

or  Collier  living  on  West  side,  who  was  with  him 
a  great  deal.  If  the  identity  is  not  cleared  up  by 
the  time  you  receive  this  letter  and  you  wish  me 
to,  I  will  go  to  Chicago  any  time  after  Wednesday 
next,  provided  you  will  pay  my  transportation 
tlieie  and  return.  I  should  want  same  extended 
several  days,  however,  so  that  I  could  stay  a 
short  time  while  there.  I  feel  sure  that  Mr. 
Fay  and  myself  could  pick  him  out  among  a 
hundred.  I  would  be  willing  to  go  without  pay 
in  ordinary  times,  but  can  hardly  afford  to  do  so 
now. 

Mr.  Pitezel  is  owing  me  One  hundred  and  eighty 
Dollars,  and  if  he  is  in  reality  dead,  I  should  be 
glad  to  have  that  amount  retained  from  the  sum 
payable  on  his  policy  and  apply  same  on  my  own, 
as  I  very  much  need  it.  I  sent  you  a  check  from 
Indian  Territory  early  in  the  spring  to  partially 
cover  my  insurance  and  incidentally  directed  it  to 
Montreal,  instead  of  Fidelity  and  it  was  returned 
to  me  at  a  time  when  I  needed  money  very  much 
to  complete  a  trade,  and  used  it  then  hoping  to 
replace  it  soon. 

My  affairs  are  not  in  a  good  condition  and  I 
need  insurance  more  than  at  any  time.  I  have 
done  a  good  deal  for  his  family  within  the  past 
eight  years  and  I  think  if  need  be,  I  could  get  an 
order  from  his  wife,  authorizing  you  to  retain  the 
amount  due  me. 

If  you  see  fit  to  wire  me,  please  do  so  by  Western 


J.S'SUlLiXCE  MOS'EV  CLAIMED.  29 

tJiiion   and    I    will  act  in   accordance   with  your 
suggestions. 

Yours  Respectfully, 

H.  H.  Holmes. 

Holmes,  of  course,  knew  when  he  wrote  this 
letter,  that  Pitezel's  body  was  not  in  Chicngo 
awaiting  identification.  He  knew  that  it  was  in 
Philadelphia,  and  yet  how  cleverly  he  uses  the 
niis  statement  in  the  Chicago  pa])er,  to  his  advan- 
tage, and  as  a  cover  for  himself!  But  he  was 
anxious  to  be  on  the  ground  when  the  final  act  in 
the  scheme  of  fraud,  intrigue  and  deception, 
should  be  performed,  and  so  two  days  later,  he 
addresses  Mr.  Cass  again  as  follows : 

Grand  Hotel, 

C:incinnati,  Sept.  19,  1894. 
E.  H.  Cass,  Esq., 

115  Deaiborn  St.,  Chicago. 
Dear  Sir  : — 

Since  writing  to  you  yesterday,  I 
have  seen  from  a  file  of  Philadelphia  papers,  that 
the  supposed  body  of  Pitezel  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  coroner  there  instead  of  in  Chicago,  as  per 
clipping  you  sent  me.  I  shall  be  in  Baltimore  in 
a  day  or  two,  and  I  will  take  an  afternoon  train 
to  Philadelphia  and  call  on  your  office  there,  and 
if  they  wish  me  to  do  so,  I  will  go  with  some  rep- 


30  tiOLJ^ES   WRITES  tO  CAS^. 

resentative  of  theirs  to  the  coroner's,  and  I  think 
I  can  tell  if  the  man  there  is  Pitezel ; — from  what 
I  read  here,  I  cannot  see  anything  to  lead  me  to 
think  tliat  the  person  killed  was  other  than  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Perry. 

Yours  Respectfully, 

H.  H.  Holmes. 
Will  you  kindly  ask  Mr.  Fay  to  write  me  at 
Columbus,  Ohio,  if  he  will,     I  shall  return  there 
about  Saturday. 

To  these  letters,  a  polite  response  was  sent  to 
Holmes  from  Mr.  Cass,  stating  in  substance  that 
the  officers  of  the  company  were  grateful  to  him 
for  the  information  which  he  had  so  kindly  fur- 
nished, and  that  after  Mr.  Holmes  had  finished  his 
business  in  Baltimore,  he  would  oblige  them  still 
further  by  coming  to  Philadelphia,  examining  the 
body  and  giving  the  company  his  views  as  to  its 
identity.  He  was  also  assured  that  his  expenses 
to  and  from  Baltimore  would  be  defrayed. 

After  reading  this  story  of  crime  to  the  end, 
the  reader  is  requested  to  turn  back  to  these  two 
letters  and  re-read  them.  One  may  then  ask,  if 
this  great  criminal  has  not  proved  himself  to  be  as 
expert  and  as  audacious  in  deceit  and  fabrication, 
as  he  has  been  bold  and  heartless  in  murder, — 
veril}'  an  artist  in  roguery. 


tNSVMi^CE  MONEY  CLAIMED.  3i 

On  September  20th,  Holmes  culled  at  the  office 
of  the  company  in  Philadelphia,  No.  914  Walnut 
Street.  He  saw  Mr.  Fouse,  president  of  the  com- 
pany, and  told  him  the  correspondence  he  had  had 
with  the  Chicago  manager,  of  which,  of  course, 
j\lr.  Fouse  had  knowledge. 

Holmes  asked  Mr.  Fouse  about  the  circumstances 
of  the  death,  which  were  related  to  him  very  briefly. 
Holmes  said  it  was  a  peculiar  case  and  asked  Mr. 
Fouse  the  cause  of  death,  and  the  verdict  of  the 
coroner's  jury  was  communicated  to  him.  He 
was  then  asked  to  give  a  description  of  Fitezel 
which  he  did. 

Mr.  Fouse  told  Holmes  that  Mrs.  Pitezel's  at- 
torney, Jeptha  D.  Howe,  had  telegraphed  him  that 
he  was  coming  to  Pliiladelphia  with  a  member  of 
the  family,  and  the  body  which  had  been  interred 
in  the  Potter's  Field,  would  no  doubt,  be  taken  up. 
Mr.  Fouse  said  he  did  not  know  precisely  the  time 
Howe  would  arrive  and  that  Holmes  had  better 
leave  his  address,  so  in  case  the  body  was  taken 
up,  he  could  secure  his  (Holmes')  opinion  of  its 
identity.  Holmes  replied  that  he  had  business  in 
Nicetown,  (a  suburb  of  Philadelphia)  and  if  he 
went  away  the  next  day  he  would  leave  word 
with  the  company,  where  he  could  be  found.     He 


32         ffOWE  PRESENTS  LETTER  OP  ATTORNEY. 

also  promised,  if  possible,  to  call  at  the  office  the 
next  niorning.  The  next  day,  September  21st, 
Jeptha  D.  Howe  called  at  the  office  of  the  com- 
pany and  presented  to  President  Fuuse  a  letter 
from  R.  J.  Linden,  Supeiintendent  of  Police  of 
Philadelpliia,  introducing  him.  This  letter  was 
accepted  as  a  sufficient  voucher  for  Mr.  Howe.  It 
had  been  obtained  from  the  superintendent  on  the 
strength  of  a  letter  presented  to  him  by  Howe, 
and  from  a  friend  of  the  superintendent's  in  St. 
Louis.  The  letter  was  given  to  Howe  to  identify 
him,  and  for  no  other  purpose.  Howe  produced  a 
letter  of  attorney  from  Mrs.  Pitezel,  and  also 
quite  a  number  of  letters  which  Mrs.  Pitezel  had 
received  from  her  husband,  while  lie  was  living  as 
B.  F.  Perry  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street.  He  said 
that  Pitezel  had  assumed  the  name  of  Perry,  be- 
cause he  had  some  financial  transactions  in  Ten- 
nessee, which  for  the  time  embarrassed  him  and 
made  it  advisable  for  him  to  change  his  name  and 
his  location.  Howe  did  not  go  into  this  matter 
very  minutely.  Mr.  Fouse  told  Howe  that  the 
company  had  become  quite  convinced  that  Perry 
and  Pitezel  were  one  and  the  same,  but  they  were 
not  convinced  that  the  dead  man  found  was  Pite- 
zel^ the  man  whom  they  had  insured,     Howe  ex- 


INSURANCE  MONEY  CLAIMED.  33 

pressed  astonishment  at  this,  whereupon  Mr, 
Fouse  asked  him  to  give  a  description  of  Pitezel, 
which  he  did.  This  description  tallied  in  all  re- 
spects with  the  description  furnished. 

This  conversation  took  place  in  the  forenoon  of 
September  21st,  and  Howe  informed  the  president 
that  Pitezel's  daughter,  Alice,  had  come  with  him 
from  St.  Louis;  that  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  ill  from 
nervous  prostration  and  was  unable  to  make  such 
a  long  journey.  He  was  asked  to  bring  Alice  to 
the  office  after  dinner.  Mr.  Fouse  talked  with 
Alice  when  Huwe  brought  her  in  the  afternoon. 
She  was  a  girl  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age, 
very  reticent,  embarrassed  and  stupid.  She  cor- 
roborated tlie  descriptions  given  of  Pitezel  by 
Howe  and  Plolmes.  Mr.  Fouse  then  informed 
Howe  of  the  visit  of  a  Mr.  Holmes,  a  gentleman 
who  claimed  to  be  an  old  friend  of  Pitezel's,  nnd 
who  had  been  his  employer  in  years  past.  He 
asked  Howe  if  he  knew  Holmes.  Howe  replied 
he  did  not.  At  this  juncture,  word  was  received 
by  Mr.  Fouse  that  Holmes  had  returned  and  was 
in  the  building.  Mr.  Fouse  so  informed  Howe 
and  asked  him  whether  he  would  like  to  meet 
Holmes.  He  said  he  would.  Holmes  was  then 
conducted  into  the  room,  and  Mr.  Fouse  intro- 


34        PBESIDENT  FOUSE  TALKS   WITH  ALICE. 

duced  Howe  to  Holmes.  They  both  accepted  the 
introduction^  and  met  ajyparently  as  strangers. 
They  both  shook  hands.  Holmes,  hoAvever,  at  once 
recognized  Alice,  and  told  her  he  supposed  she 
recognized  him,  and  she  said  she  did.  She  had 
been  carefully  instructed  in  the  part  she  was  to 
play  in  the  performance,  and  she  did  it  well. 
Holmes  had  evidently  told  her  that  her  papa 
\\as  really  dead,  and  the  company  would  never 
l»ay  the  insurance  money  if  they  discovered  that 
Holmes  and  her  papa  had  been  so  intimate.  Mr. 
Fouse  then  took  up  the  statements  that  had  been 
made  by  the  three  persons,  Holmes,  Howe,  and 
Alice  Pitezel,  and  then  said,  as  they  intended  to 
disinter  the  body,  marks  of  identification  had 
better  be  prepared  to  which  thej^  all  could  sub- 
scribe. Before  assenting  to  this,  Hoive  straightened 
himself  vp  and  said  :  (j-ef erring  to  Holmes')  Who  is 
this  mail  ?  Why  is  he  here?  What  is  his  purpose ? 
Mr.  Fouse  at  once  proceeded  to  fully  and  frankly 
explain  to  Howe  how  Holmes  had  come  there, 
and  referred  to  the  letters  the  company  had  re- 
ceived from  the  Chicago  manager.  Howe  said 
that  this  was  satisfactory. 

The    marks   of  identification, — a   wart  on   the 
neck,  a  cut  on  the  leg,  and  a  bruised  nail  of  the 


INSURANCE  3I0NEY  CLAIMED.  35 

thumb,  together  with  certain  peculiarities  of  the 
teeth  were  then  agreed  upon,  and  an  engagement 
was  made  for  all  parties  to  report  at  the  coroner's 
office  the  following  day,  Saturday,  September 
22d,  and  with  the  coroner's  physician  proceed  to 
the  Potters  Field,  disinter  the  body  and  look  for 
the  marks  of  identification.  The  next  day  the 
party,  consisting  of  the  deputy  coroner,  his  physi- 
cian. Inspector  Perry,  Howe,  Holmes,  Alice  Pite- 
zel,  Eugene  Smith,  and  President  Fouse,  all  went 
to  the  Potters  Field.  When  the  party  arrived, 
they  discovered  that  the  body  had  been  disin- 
terred by  order  of  the  coroner,  and  was  in  the 
dead  house.  The  sight  was  terrifying,  as  the 
corpse  was  greatly  decomposed. 

The  coroner's  physician  put  on  his  rubber 
gloves,  tore  away  the  garments  at  places  where 
the  marks  were  supposed  to  be,  but  he  was  un- 
able to  find  them.  At  this  moment.  Holmes 
pulled  off  his  coat,  rolled  up  his  sleeves,  took  a 
surgeon's  knife  from  his  pocket,  put  on  the  rubber 
gloves,  turned  the  body  over,  cut  aAvay  the  gar- 
ments, washed  off  the  skin  at  the  back  of  the 
neck,  and  pointed  out  the  wart,  which  he  re- 
moved. He  also  showed  the  cut  on  the  leg  and 
the  bruised  nail  of  the  thumb,  which  he  also  re- 


36  MBS.   FITEZEL  PAID  $9,715.85. 

moved  and  handing  them  to  the  coroner's  physi- 
cian, he  requested  that  he  preserve  them  in  alco- 
hol. Alice  Pitezel  was  not  permitted  to  witness 
this  scene,  but  after  Holmes  liad  finished  his  self- 
imposed  task,  and  after  all  portions  of  the  body 
had  been  covered  up,  save  the  mouth,  she  was  led 
sobbing  to  the  table,  and  after  looking  at  the 
teeth,  said  they  appeared  to  be  like  her  papa's. 

The  party  then  left  the  field  and  Howe  asked 
Mr.  Fouse  for  his  opinion,  and  if  he  was  satisfied. 
Mr.  Fouse  said  he  would  hold  the  matter  under 
consideration.  On  the  following  Monday,  Sep- 
tember 24th,  the  ofiicers  of  the  company  held  a 
conference  and  concluded  that  the  identification 
was  satisfactory  and  complete  and  so  informed 
Howe.  Howe  then  represented  Mrs.  Pitezel  as 
being  very  poor  and  sick  and  greatly  in  need  of 
money  ;  that  her  husband  had  left  her  nothing, 
and  he  wanted  to  know  how  soon  the  claim  could 
be  paid.  After  some  little  consideration,  the 
officers  of  the  company  decided  to  pay  the  claim 
at  once,  provided  the  expenses  to  which  this  com- 
pany had  been  put  in  the  effort  to  identify  the 
body  were  deducted.  To  this  Howe  reluctantly 
assented,  and  thereupon  a  check  to  his  order  as 
attorney  in  fact  for  Mrs.  Pitezel  for  $9715.85  was 


Alice  Pitj:zel. 


INSURANCE  MONEY  CLAI3IED.  39 

drawn  and  delivered  to  him,  and  the  policy  of  in- 
surance was  surrendered.  The  company  also 
paid  Holmes  ten  dollars  to  defray  his  expenses 
incurred  in  coming  from  Uiillimore.  The  com- 
pany within  the  next  two  weeks  received  letters 
from  Mrs.  Pitezel,  Alice  Pitezel,  Holmes  and 
Howe,  expressing  their  appreciation  of  tlie  prompt 
manner  in  which  the  claim  had  been  settled. 

On  Sunday,  September  23d,  1894,  in  response 
to  the  urgent  request  of  Holmes,  wlio  said  he  de- 
sired to  leave  the  city  as  soon  as  possible,  the  cor- 
oner permitted  him  and  Alice  Pitezel  to  subscribe 
to  affidavits,  in  which  they  certify  to  the  indentity 
of  the  body  as  that  of  B.  F.  Pitezel.  The  folio- 
ing  are  copies  of  these  statements. 

Benjamin  F.  Pitezel, 

1316  Callowhill  Street. 

E.  Alice  Pitezel. 
I  live  at  No.  6343  Michigan  Avenue,  St.  Louis, 
Mo.  I  am  in  my  15th  year.  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel 
was  my  father.  He  was  37  years  old  this  year.  My 
mother  is  living.  There  are  five  children.  My 
father  came  East  July  20th.  He  first  went  from 
St.  Louis  to  New  York,  and  left  there  August 
11th.  We  learned  of  his  death  through  the 
papers.  I  came  on  with  Mr.  Howe  to  see  the 
body  on  Saturday,  September  22d.  I  saw  a  body 
3 


40    AFFIDAVITS  OF  ALICE  PITEZEL  AND  HOLMES. 

at  the  city  burying  ground,  and  fully  recognized 
the  body  as  that  of  my  father  by  his  teeth.  I  am 
fully  satisfied  that  it  is  he. 

Signed, 

E.  Alice  Pitezel. 
Witnesses, 

Jeptha  D.  Howe. 
O.  LaF.  Perry. 
Sept.  23d,  1894. 


H.  H.  Holmes, 

701  63rd  Street,  Chicago,  111. 
I  knew  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel  8  years  in  Chicago. 
Had  business  with  him  much  of  that  time.  More 
recently  he  had  desk  room  in  our  office.  I  received 
a  letter  from  E.  H.  Cass,  agent  of  the  Fidclitj- 
Co.  about  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  sending  a  clipping. 
I  came  to  Philadelpliia  and  saw  the  body  on  Sat- 
urday, September  22d,  at  the  city  burial  ground. 
I  recollect  the  mole  on  the  back  of  the  neck,  and 
low  growth  of  hair  on  the  forehead,  and  general 
shape  of  the  head  and  teeth.  His  daughter  had 
described  a  scar  on  tlie  right  leg  below  the  knee, 
front.  I  found  this  on  the  body  as  described  by 
Alice.  I  have  no  doubt  whatsoever  but  what  it  is 
the  body  of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  who  was  buried 
as  B.  F.  Perry.  I  last  saw  him  in  November, 
1893,  in  Chicago.  I  heard  he  used  an  assumed 
name  recently.     I  never  knew  him  to  use  any 


INSURANCE  MONEV  CLADIED.  41 

other  name  but  his  own.     I  found  him  an  honest, 
honorable  man  in  all  dealings. 
Signed, 

Harry  H.  Holmes, 
Witnesses, 

O.  LaF.  Perry. 
Jeptha  D.  Howe. 

Eugene  Smith  was  present  at  this  disinterment 
and  examination  in  Potters  Field.  He  had  seen 
Holmes  once  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  but 
failed  to  recognize  him  at  the  exhumation  of  the 
body.  Had  he  done  so,  the  scheme  of  fraud  and 
murder  would  have  been  disclosed  then  and  there, 
and  the  lives  of  the  three  children  saved.  He 
says  now  that  he  had  a  suspicion  that  the  man  he 
saw  at  the  Potters  Field  was  the  man  whom  he 
had  seen  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  and  that 
he  was  more  than  once  on  the  point  of  speaking 
of  it  to  Mr.  Fouse,  but  feared  making  a  mistake 
and  so  remained  silent. 

In  this  instance  at  least,  silence  was  not  the 
"  eloquence  of  discretion." 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  INSURANCE   COMPANY   SUSPICIOUS. 

Inspector  Gary  not  Satisfied — Gary  Visits  Major  Harrigan 
at  St.  Louis. — Letter  from  a  Train  Robber — Gary  Visits 
Hedgepeth — Search  for  Holmes — Pinkerton  Aid  Secured — 
Holmes  Arrested  in  Boston — Holmes  True  Name  Herman 
Webster  Mndgett— Mrs.  Pitezel  Decoyed  to  Boston  and  Ar- 
rested— Holmes'  Several  Wives — Holmes  Regrets  His  Con- 
fidence in  Hedgepeth. 

The  Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Association,  has  a 
detective  department  of  its  own.  It  is  under  the 
direction  of  Inspector  W.  E.  Gary,  a  very  shrewd, 
painstaking  and  capable  ofiicets  who  has  had  a 
long  experience  in  investigations  relating  to  life 
insurance  risks. 

Mr.  Gary  not  only  questioned  the  proof  of  the 
identity  of  the  body  as  that  of  Pitezel,  but  he 
was  dissatisfied  with  the  conclusion  then  reached, 
that  the  man  found,  dead,  had  died  as  the  result 
of  an  accident,  as  the  appearances  of  the  body 
with  the  broken  bottle  and  pipe  and  the  dead 
match  at  its  side,  seemed  to  prove. 

The  officers  of  the  company,  however,  had  paid 

the  claim,  and  the  matter  was  soon  forgotten  in 

(43) 


U  GABy  VISITS  3IAJ0B  HARRIGAN  AT  ST.  LOUIS. 

the  multiplicity  of  duties  incident  to  the  business 
of  a  great  insurance  company. 

Early  in  October,  about  two  weeks  after  Jeptha 
D.  Howe  departed  with  the  check  for  $9,715.85, 
business  of  importance,  having  no  relation  what- 
ever to  the  Pitezel  case,  called  Inspector  Gary  to 
St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

On  October  9th,  while  sitting  in  the  branch  of- 
fice of  the  company  in  St.  Louis,  a  messenger 
called  with  a  letter  from  Major  Lawrence  Har- 
rigan,  Chief  of  the  St.  Louis  Police,  stating  that 
he,  (Harrigan)  had  received  a  communication 
from  a  prisoner  in  the  city  prison,  about  an  insur- 
ance case  which  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Associa- 
tion had  investigated,  and  suggesting  that  some 
officer  of  the  company  should  at  once  call  upon 
him. 

This  message  caused  Inspector  Gary  to  visit  the 
chiefs  office  without  delay,  and  there  Major  Har- 
rigan handed  him  a  letter  he  had  received  from 
Marion  C.  Hedgepeth,  a  prisoner  who  was  tiwait- 
ing  sentence  for  train  robbing.  This  letter  which 
is  here  given  in  full  will  be  more  fully  understood 
when  the  reader  is  informed,  that  Mudgett  (or 
Holmes)  was  known  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  as  H. 
M.  Howard,  and  that  in  July  of  1894  he  had  been 


THE  INSURANCE  COMPANY  SUSPICIOUS.         45 

incarcerated  in  the  city  prison  under  that  name 
on  a  charge  of  swindling  in  connection  with  the 
purchase  and  sale  of  a  drug  store. 

"  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
Tuesday,  October  9th,  1894. 
Major  Lawrence  Harrigan, 
Chief  of  Police. 
Dear  Sir  : — 

When  H.  M.  Howard  was  in  here 
some  two  months  ago,  he  came  to  me  and  told  me 
he  would  like  to  talk  to  me,  as  he  had  read  a  great 
deal  of  me,  etc.;  also  after  we  got  well  acquainted, 
he  told  me  he  had  a  scheme  by  which  he  could 
make  $10,000,  and  he  needed  some  lawyer  who 
could  be  trusted,  and  said  if  I  could,  he  would  see 
that  I  got  $500  for  it.  I  then  told  him  that  J.  D. 
Howe  could  be  trusted,  and  he  then  went  on  and 
told  me  that  B.  F.  Pitezel's  life  was  insured  for 
$10,000,  and  that  Pitezel  and  him  were  going  to 
work  the  insurance  company  for  the  $10,000,  and 
just  how  they  were  going  to  do  it ;  even  going 
into  minute  details ;  that  he  was  an  expert  at  it, 
as  he  had  worked  it  before,  and  that  being  a  drug- 
gist, he  could  easily  deceive  the  insurance  com- 
pany by  having  Pitezel  fix  himself  up  according 
to  his  directions  and  appear  that  he  was  mortally 
wounded  by  an  explosion,  and  then  put  a  corpse 
in  place  of  Pitezel's  body,  etc.,  and  then  have  it 
identified  as  that  of  Pitezel.     I  did  not  take  much 


Jfi  LETTER   FROM  A    TRAIN-ROBBER. 

stock  in  what  he  told  me,  until  after  he  went  out 
on  bond,  which  was  in  a  few  days,  when  J.  D. 
Howe  came  to  me  and  told  me  that  that  man 
Howard,  tliat  I  had  recommended  him  to,  had 
come  and  told  him  that  I  had  recommended  Howe 
to  him  and  had  laid  the  whole  plot  open  to  him, 
and  Howe  told  me  that  he  never  heard  of  a  finer 
or  smoother  piece  of  work,  and  that  it  was  sure 
to  work,  and  that  Howard  was  one  of  the  smooth- 
est and  slickest  men  that  he  ever  heard  tell  of,  etc., 
and  Plowe  told  me  that  he  would  see  that  I  got 
$500  if  it  worked,  and  that  Howard  was  going  on 
East  to  attend  to  it  at  once.  (At  this  time  I  did 
not  know  what  insurance  company  was  to  be 
worked,  and  am  not  sure  yet  as  to  which  one  it  is, 
but  Howe  told  me  that  it  was  the  Fidelity  Mutual 
of  Philadelphia,  whose  office  is,  according  to  the 
city  directory,  at  No.  520  Olive  Street.)  Howe 
came  down  and  told  me  every  two  or  three  days, 
that  everything  was  working  smoothly  and  when 
notice  appeared  in  the  Globe  Democrat  and 
Chronicle  of  the  death  of  B.  F.  Pitezel,  Howe 
came  down  at  once  and  told  me  that  it  was  a 
matter  of  a  few  days  until  we  would  have  the 
money,  and  that  the  only  thing  tliat  might  keep 
the  company  from  paying  it  at  once,  was  the  fact 
that  Howard  and  Pitezel  were  so  hard  up  for 
money,  that  they  could  not  pay  the  dues  on  the 
policy  until  a  day  or  two  before  it  was  due,  and 
then    had  to  send  it  by  telegram,   and  that  the 


THE  mSUMANCE  COiMPANV  SUtiPIClOUS.  47 

company  might  claim  that  they  did  not  get  the 
money  until  after  the  lapse  of  the  policy ;  but 
they  did  not,  and  so  Howe  and  a  little  girl  (I 
think  Pitezel's  daughter)  went  back  to  Philadel- 
phia and  succeeded  in  identifying  and  having  the 
body  recognized  as  that  of  B.  F.  Pitezel.  Howard 
told  me  that  Pitezel's  wife  was  privy  to  the  whole 
thing.  Howe  tells  me  now  that  Howard  would 
not  let  Mrs.  Pitezel  go  back  to  identify  the  sup- 
posed body  of  her  husband,  and  that  he  feels  al- 
most positive  and  certain  that  Howard  deceived 
Pitezel  and  that  Pitezel  in  following  out  Holme's 
instructions,  was  killed  and  that  it  was  really 
the  body  of  Pitezel. 

The  policy  was  made  out  to  the  wife  and  when 
the  money  was  put  in  the  bank,  then  Howard 
stepped  out  and  left  the  wife  to  settle  with  Howe 
for  his  services.  She  was  willing  to  pay  him 
il,000,  but  he  wants  82,500  and  so  -12,500  of 
the  money  is  held  until  they  get  over  squabbling 
about  it.  Howard  is  now  on  his  way  to  Germany, 
and  Pitezel's  wife  is  here  in  the  city  yet,  and 
where  Pitezel  is  or  whether  that  is  Pitezel's  body 
I  can't  tell,  but  I  don't  believe  it  is  Pitezel's  body, 
but  believe  that  he  is  alive  and  well  and  probably 
in  Germany,  where  Howard  is  now  on  his  way.  It 
is  hardly  worth  while  to  say  that  I  never  got  the 
8500  that  Howard  held  out  to  me  for  me  to  intro- 
duce him  to  Mr.  Howe.  Please  excuse  this  poor 
writing  as  I  have  written  this  in  a  hurry  and  have 


48  GABY  VISITS  HEDGEPETB. 

to  write  on  a  book  placed  on  my  knee.  This  and 
a  lot  more  I  am  willing  to  swear  to.  I  wish  you 
would  see  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Company  and  see  if  they  are  the  ones  who  have 
been  made  the  victim  of  this  swindle,  and  if  so, 
tell  them  that  I  want  to  see  them.  I  never  asked 
what  company  it  was  until  to-day,  and  it  was  after 
we  had  some  words  about  the  matter,  and  so 
Howe  may  not  have  told  the  proper  company,  but 
you  can  find  out  what  companj^  it  is  by  asking  or 
telephoning  to  the  different  companies.  When  I 
asked  Mrs.  Pitezel's  address  he  waited  a  long  time 
and  finally  said  it  was  No.  6342  S.  Michigan  Ave. 
Please  send  an  agent  of  the  company  to  see  me  if 
you  please. 

Yours  Resp.,  etc., 
Marion  C.  Hedgepeth. 


It  was  in  compliance  with  this  request  that  In- 
spector Gary,  accompanied  by  a  stenographer, 
visited  Hedgepeth  in  the  city  prison  and  obtained 
from  him  a  sworn  statement,  which  was  in  effect  a 
reiteration  of  the  declarations  made  in  the  letter, 
except  that  in  addition  to  all  that  had  been  dis- 
closed by  Howe  after  his  return  from  Philadel- 
phia, he  told  Hedgepeth  that  he  verily  believed 
that  the  body  was  really  Pitezel's,  and  that 
Holmes  had  either  murdered  him,  or  Pitezel  had 


THE  INSURANCE  C03IPANY  SUSPICIOUS.  49 

been  killed  in  the  explosion  when  setting  up  the 
job  of  substitution. 

With  a  cop3'  of  this  letter  and  the  statement 
Inspector  Gary  returned  at  once  to  Philadelphia 
and  promptly  reported  the  new  revelation  to  the 
officers  of  the  company.  These  gentlemen  con- 
sidered the  story  to  be  a  fake, — a  tale  manufac- 
tured by  a  wily  criminal  for  selfish  purposes,  and 
they  refused  to  believe  it  or  attach  any  importance 
to  it  whatever.  Not  so,  however,  with  Inspector 
Gary.  He  believed  the  statement  to  be  true. 
He  pointed  out  matters  referred  to  in  Hedgepeth's 
letter,  which  could  not  have  been  known  to 
Hedgepeth,  and  must  have  been  communicated  by 
either  Howe  or  Howard,  and  precisely  as  he  had 
related  them.  Hedgepeth  states  that  the  premium 
on  the  policy  was  sent  by  a  telegram  from  New 
York,  as  indeed  it  was,  and  on  the  very  day  it  tvas 
due,  August  9th.  How  could  he  have  known  that 
fact?  It  was  known  onlj'  to  the  officers  of  tlie 
company  and  the  conspirators.  Gary  finally 
persuaded  the  officers  of  the  company  to  permit 
him  to  make  a  search  for  Holmes,  and  as  the  work 
progressed,  proofs  that  the  company  had  been 
made  the  victim  of  a  swindle,  multiplied.  The 
aid   of  the    Piukeiton    Detective   force  was  now 


50  H0L3TES  A  K RESTED   IN  BOSTON. 

secured.  Holmes  was  first  searched  for  in  Kings- 
ton, Canada,  and  then  in  Detroit,  but  without  re- 
sult. He  was  finally  traced  to  Burlington,  Ver- 
mont, thence  to  Tilton  and  Gilmanton,  N.  H. 
At  the  last  named  place  it  was  found  that  Holmes 
or  Howard,  two  of  his  aliases,  was  really  Herman 
Webster  Mudgett ;  that  his  father's  home  was  in 
Gilmanton,  and  that  he  was  visiting  his  old  home 
while  under  the  surveillance  of  detectives.  He 
was  kept  under  a  close  shadow  and  followed  to 
Boston,  where  on  November  17,  1894,  he  was 
arrested  and  taken  to  the  police  station. 

Strange  to  say,  his  arrest  was  effected  not  on 
the  charge  of  swindling  the  insurance  company, 
but  on  a  telegram  from  Fort  Worth,  Texas,  charg- 
ing him  with  horse  stealing, — another  of  his 
criminal  operations.  At  the  time  of  the  arrest, 
Mr.  Perry,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  company, 
(who  had  seen  Mudgett  at  the  company's  office  in 
Philadelphia,  and  in  the  Potters  Field  at  the  ex- 
humation of  the  body)  went  to  Boston.  Upon 
seeing  Mr.  Perry  at  the  city  police  station,  Mud- 
gett or  Holmes,  as  we  shall  call  him,  threw  up 
his  hands  and  said  he  guessed  he  was  wanted  in 
Philadelphia  by  the  Fidelity,  and  not  in  Fort 
Worth  for  the  horse   business.      In  fact  he  ex- 


THE  INSURANCE  COMPANY  SUSPICIOUS.  51 

pressed  a  decided  disinclination  to  revisit  Fort 
Worth,  Texas,  as  he  knew  that  horse  thieves  and 
swindlers  are  liable  to  receive  much  more  per- 
emptory attention  from  the  populace  in  that  sec- 
tion than  in  the  north. 

Holmes  had  rented  a  house  in  Burlington,  Ver- 
mont, for  Mrs.  Pitezel,  who  had  with  her,  her 
baby  and  eldest  daughter,  Dessie,  about  sixteen 
years  of  age.  She  was  brought  to  Boston  by  a 
decoy  letter,  devised  by  the  Pinkertons  and  writ- 
ten by  Holmes,  and  was  arrested  and  placed  iu 
the  city  police  station.  When  arrested.  Holmes 
was  found  in  the  company  of  Miss  Georgiana 
Yoke,  whom  he  had  married  under  the  name  of 
Henry  Mansfield  Howard.  This  lady  soon 
proved  herself  to  be  an  estimable  and  an  honest 
woman.  She  had  been  cruelly  and  heartlessly 
deceived,  and  soon  learned  that  she  was  one  of 
several  victims,  for  he  had  not  only  a  lawful  wife 
living  near  his  old  home  in  New  Hampshire,  but 
he  had  married  at  least  one  other  woman,  who 
honestly  believed  herself  to  be  his  wife. 

His  confidence  in  Hedgepeth  can  only  be  ex- 
plained by  his  evident  admiration  for  a  man  who 
had  achieved  great  notoriety  as  a  train  robber. 
It  was  a  weakness,  which  Holmes  has  many  times 


55  SIBS.   PITEZEL    DECOYED   TO   BOSTON. 

regretted.  He  has  just  as  much  deplored  the 
other  mistake  he  made,  in  omitting  to  pay  Hedge- 
peth  his  promised  reward  and  share  of  the  money, 
for  it  is  quite  evident  that  while  Hedgepeth  told 
the  truth  in  his  letter  to  the  chief  of  police  and 
in  his  statement  to  Inspector  Gary,  his  expose  was 
in  revenge  for  the  chagrin  he  suffered,  when  he 
realized  he  was  forgotten  at  the  time  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  proceeds  of  the  robbery. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CLANG  OF  THE  CELL  DOOR. 

Holmes'  First  Confession — Admits  Conspiracy  to  Defraud — 
Substitution  of  a  Corpse — A  Plausible  Statement — Details 
of  the  Conspiracy. 

The  eclio  of  the  clang  of  the  cell  door  through 
the  corridor  of  the  police  station  in  Boston,  had 
scarcely  died  away,  before  Holmes  inaugurated  a 
system  of  fabrications,  the  chief  object  of  which  was 
to  deceive  and  mislead  the  police  authorities  and  the 
officers  of  the  company  he  had  robbed.  He  admitted 
that  a  fraud  had  been  perpetrated,  and  that  he  was 
one  of  a  band  of  conspirators,  who  had  successfully 
imposed  upon  a  life  insurance  company,  and  had 
secured  upwards  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  by  the 
substitution  of  a  corpse,  for  the  supposed  dead 
body  of  the  insured.  He  said  the  cadaver  had 
been  obtained  from  a  medical  friend  of  his  in  New 
York,  whose  name  he  refused  to  disclose.  Holmes 
is  greatly  given  to  lying  with  a  sort  of  florid 
ornamentation,  and  all  of  his  stories  are  decorated 
with   flamboyant  draperies,  intended  by  him   to 

^53) 


64  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

strengthen  the  plausibility  of  his  statenienLs.  li\ 
talking,  he  has  the  appearance  of  cunclor,  be- 
comes pathetic  at  times  when  pathos  will  serve 
him  best,  uttering  his  words  with  a  quaver  in  his 
voice,  often  accompanied  by  a  moistened  eye,  then 
turning  quickly  with  a  determined  and  forceful 
method  of  speech,  as  if  indignation  or  resolution 
had  sprung  out  of  tender  memories  that  had 
touched  his  heart. 

Here  is  his  first  confession,  made  November 
19th,  1894,  to  O.  M.  Hanscom,  Deputy  Superin- 
tendent of  Police,  Massachusetts,  and  John  Corn- 
ish, Superintendent  of  the  Pinkerton  Detective 
Agency  of  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

Boston,  Mass., 

November  19,  1894. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Hanscom.)  What  is  Pitezel's 
name? 

A.     B.  F.,  I  think  Benjamin  Fuller. 

Q.     When  did  you  last  see  Pitezel  ? 

A.  I  cannot  give  the  day.  I  will  leave  a  blank 
and  fill  it  in. 

Q.     State  it  in  your  own  way. 

A.     Well,  I  saw  him  last  in  Detroit  and  it  was 


Benjamin'  F.  Pitkzei. 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOB.  67 

in  the  neigliborliood  of  three  weeks  ago,  but  I  can 
give  the  exact  date  by  consulting  my  wife. 

Q.  Do  you  know  where  he  was  stopping  in 
Detroit  ? 

A.  No,  I  don't  know.  He  had  been  there 
several  days  before  waiting  for  me  to  come 
there. 

Q.  When  was  the  last  time  before  that  that 
you  saw  him  ? 

A.  Well  I  had  not  seen  him  but  once  since  this 
Philadelphia  occurrence  and  that  was  in  Cin- 
cinnati, probably  two  weeks  before  that. 

Q.  You  went  from  New  York  with  the  trunk 
and  body  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     And  turned  the  check  over  to  him  ? 

A.     That  was  on  Sunday. 

Q.     You  know  what  date? 

A.  No,  it  was  the  Sunday  nearest  the  first  of 
September. 

Q.  After  turning  over  to  him  the  check  for 
the  trunk  when  did  you  see  hini  next? 

A.  About  ten  days  or  two  weeks,  I  should 
say,  in  Cincinnati. 

Q.  Then  you  gave  him  your  instructions  as  ti> 
how  to  proceed  with  the  body? 


58  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

A.     He  had  tJiose  before. 

Q.  Those  had  been  given  to  him  some  time 
before  ? 

A.     Ves,  sir. 

Q.  So  that  you  did  not  see  him  after  turning 
over  to  him  the  checks  until  you  next  met  liim  in 
Cincinnati  ? 

A.  No,  sir.  I  think  there  must  have  been  two 
weeks.  It  must  have  been  more,  because  it  was 
three  weeks  before  I  went  on  to  Philadelphia. 
It  must  have  been  at  least  ten  days  or  two  weeks 
after  the  payment  of  the  money. 

Q.  You  had  no  occasion  to  meet  him  in  Phila- 
delphia during  the  interim  between  giving  him 
the  check  and  the  finding  of  the  body  ? 

A.  He  went  right  away,  or  was  to  go  to  New 
York. 

Q.  As  soon  as  he  prepared  the  body  his  in- 
structions were  to  go  to  New  York  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  and  I  went  that  night  really 
within  three  hours  after  the  body  had  landed  in 
Philadelphia. 

Q.     You  next  saw  him  in  Cincinnati? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Some  two  weeks? 

A.     Well,  it  must  have  been  nearer  five  weeks, 


THE  CLANG  OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  59 

about  ten  clays  or  so  after  the  payment  of  the 
money.  I  have  no  means  of  knowing  just  how 
many  clays  between. 

Q.  How  did  he  get  possession  of  the  tlireo 
children  ? 

A.  Well,  one  he  got  in  Cincinnati  and  the 
other  in  Detroit.     The  boy  he  '^ook  there. 

Q.  Did  you  see  the  child  with  him  in  Cincin- 
nati. 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     By  whom  was  it  turned  over  to  him  ? 

A.  The  three  children,— or  rather  to  be  more 
explicit,  after  we  came  to  Philadelphia  to  identify 
the  body,  the  little  child  Alice,  who  was  there 
with  Mr.  Perry  about  the  identification,  went  as 
far  as  Indianapolis  with  me  and  I  left  her  there 
and  "went  further  on  to  St.  Louis  where  the 
mother  was,  and  as  soon  as  the  money  was  paid 
over  to  the  attorney  and  given  to  this  .woman, 
why  a  portion  of  it  I  took  and  the  other  two 
children  and  went  to  Cincinnati  calling  for  this 
one  in  Indianapolis. 

Q.     By  "  this  woman  "  you  mean  his  wife? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  Now,  when  I  landed  in  Cincin- 
nati I  had  three  children  ;  two  I  took  at  St. 
Louis,   boy  and  girl,  and  one  from  Philadelphia 


60  HOLMES'  FIRST  CONFESSION. 

that  I  Lad  jnst  stepped  off  the  train  at  Indian- 
apolis and  took  from  there  where  she  had  been  at 
the  Stebbins  Hotel. 

Q.  In  whose  charge  at  the  Stebbins  Hotel  was 
this  child  ? 

A.  She  was  hardly  with  any  one,  she  was  four- 
teen or  fifteen  years  old. 

Q.     Was  she  stopping  under  her  own  name? 

A.     No,  under  the  name  of  Canning. 

Q.  You  took  three  children  and  went  to  Cin- 
cinnati ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Where  you  met  the  father  ? 

A.  The  father,  and  then  it  was  arranged, — the 
mother  wanted  to  see  him  if  she  could  without 
the  children  knowing  he  was  alive. 

Q.     Was  the  mother  with  you  ? 

A.  No,  not  then,  but  she  was  to  follow.  I  was 
to  go  to  Cincinnati  and  get  a  house  and  have 
them  go  there  and  stay  for  the  winter,  all  the 
whole  family,  and  it  was  arranged  that  he  should 
see  her  fur  a  few  days  and  then  he  was  going 
South  where  he  used  to  be  in  the  lumber  business, 
but  he  had  been  drinking  and  before  I  knew  it 
he  went  in  where  the  children  were  stopping  and 
saw  those  three,  and  the  mother  had  threatened  in 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  n 

case  that  they  knew  that  he  was  alive  she  would 
not  go  any  further  in  it,  because  she  thought  it 
would  all  come  out.  He  is  a  man  that  drinks 
some.  So  we  compromised  there  by  his  taking 
enough  to  go  there  and  keep  these  three  chil- 
dren away  from  tlie  mother,  so  he  took  one  of 
them  and  I  took  the  other  two  to  Chicago,  be- 
cause I  had  business  there,  thinking  that  it  would 
not  call  anyone's  attention  so  quick  if  he  travelled 
with  the  boy  alone  as  if  there  were  three.  Then 
I  took  them  to  Detroit  and  he  was  already  there 
and  took  the  other  two,  dressed  the  smallest  girl 
as  a  boy,  but  this  girl  Alice  is  dressed,  I  suppose 
now,  as  a  girl  and  there  are  two  boys  and  one  girl. 

Q.     The   two  boys,  would  that  mean  the  eldest 
and  the  next  to  the  eldest? 

A.     No,  there  is  only  one  boy  really. 

Q.     Which  other  one  was  dressed  as  a  boy  ? 

A.     The  youngest  girl. 

Q.     How  old  is  she  ? 

A.     Not  over  11  years  old. 

Q.     Did  you  get  a  suit  of  clothes  in  Detroit? 

A.     He  got  them. 

Q.     How  long  did  you  remain  with  him  in  De- 
troit ? 

A.     Oh,  I  think  1  got  in  there  Saturday  and  he 


62  nuUIES'   FIRST  CONFEtSSION. 

went  away  Monday,  I  think.  Anyway,  we  had 
intended  to  get  the  children  there  and  let  the 
mother  know  that  they  were  there,  but  still  he 
■wanted  to  see  her  very  bad. 

Q.  He  did  not  succeed  in  seeing  his  wife  iu 
Detroit? 

A.     No. 

Q.     She  did  not  join  him  there  ? 

A.     No. 

Q.     Did  you  see  him  leave  Detroit? 

A.  No,  I  did  not.  I  kept  away  wholly  from 
him  ;  that  is,  he  met  me.  I  can't  think  of  the 
street,  it  is  a  street  they  have  been  repairing. 
We  went  out  on  the  street  cars. 

Q.  It  is  not  really  clear  to  my  mind  now  why 
the  family  should  be  broken  up,  why  the  three 
children  should  go  one  way  and  she  with  the  two 
children  the  other  way. 

A.  The  first  intention  was  to  have  them  all 
go  to  Cincinnati  and  stay  there  for  the  winter, 
get  a  furnished  house  and  have  her  stay  there  un- 
til any  noise  might  blow  over,  and  he  was  going 
into  the  South  on  lumber  business  and  I  about  my 
general  business.  When  I  got  down  there  I  met 
him.  I  had  the  three  children  and  he  had  been 
waiting  there  some  days  and  1  stayed  there  with 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  63 

him  that  uight,  and  the  next  day  instead  of  doing 
as  he  agreed,  he  had  been  drinking  a  little  and  he 
went  and  saw  the  children  which  he  agreed  nut 
to  do  under  any  circumstances. 

Q.  That,  of  course,  gave  it  away  that  he  was 
alive  ? 

A.  Of  course,  we  could  not  get  them  away  in 
a  moment. 

Q.  Your  theory  was  that  it  was  necessary  for 
the  three  children  to  accompany  him  for  the 
safety  of  the  scheme? 

A.  Well,  if  the  mother  knew  that  they  knew 
then  she  would  immediately  throw  it  over  as  she 
said,  and  I  think  she  will  tell  you  so  herself. 

Q.  At  the  same  time  I  suppose  there  was 
some  fear  that  they  might  in  some  way,  betray 
the  fact  that  he  was  still  alive  ? 

A.  Well,  they  could  not  all  be  together  and 
go  to  school ;  you  could  nut  depend  upon  10 
or  11  year  old  children  to  keep  the  fact  :  keep 
them  from  speaking  among  themselves  or  before 
strangers,  neither  could  3'ou  get  them  to  go 
under  another  name  and  carry  it  out  at  that 
age. 

Q.     Do  you  know  what  his  next  point  was  ? 

A.     He  was  going  to  New  York  and  then  if  he 


64  H0L3IES'    FIRST  CONFESSION. 

could  get  through  on  the  boats,  if  thej  had  not  al- 
ready been  taken  off  he  was  going  tliat  way,  and 
if  they  had  he  was  going  to  go  down  by  land  as 
far  as  Key  West  I  think,  some  very  southern 
point.  He  knows  the  South,  which  I  don't.  I 
have  been  on  the  Eastern  coast  more.  He  had 
some  lumber  business  there.  And  I  think  tlie 
safest  way  is  to  go  to  the  railroad  brokers  to  see 
if  he  went  by  boat,  because  he  always  buys  these 
scalpers  tickets  when  he  can. 

Q.  About  what  date  then  do  you  place  him  in 
New  York  ;  according  to  your  reckoning,  what 
dates  should  he  have  been  tliere  ? 

A.  I  am  thoroughly  honest  in  saying  that  I 
cannot  say  what  day,  but  if  you  will  leave  it  I 
can  get  it.     It  was  about  a  month  ago. 

Q.  Under  what  name  was  he  travelling  at  that 
time? 

A.  Well,  T.  H.,  or  anyway  it  was  made  out 
of  the  name  he  used  in  the  South,  only  he  turned 
it  round  about.  He  was  there  under  the  name 
of  Benton  T.  Lyman,  and  I  think  it  was  L.  T.  or 
L.  B.  Benton.  Benton  was  the  name  which  was 
agreed  upon  quite  a  while  before. 

Q.  That  is  the  name  under  which  he  corres- 
ponded with  you  ? 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  65 

A.  I  was  going  to  address  him  through  either 
Chicago  or  New  York  Personals. 

Q.  Had  you  any  cipher  code  that  he  under- 
stood ? 

A.  Yes  sir,  but  that  was  only  fur  his  writing 
to  me,  because  of  his  going  from  place  to  place,  to 
places  where  the  mails  did  not  go  ;  very  often  I 
hardly  thought  it  was  safe.  After  I  got  his  letter, 
anything  of  importance  I  was  to  put  in  either  the 
Chicago  Tribune,  or  the  New  York  Herald  in  the 
way  of  a  personal  letter.  We  have  done  that  a 
few  times  in  years  past. 

Q.     Was  it  agreed  what  the  ''  ad  "  should  be  ? 

A.  No,  it  would  be  in  shape  so  that  he  would 
understand  all  well,  or  if  anything  new  that  came 
up  should  cause  him  to  move  again,  it  would  be 
taken  through  them. 

Q.  Then  you  believe  that  he  and  the  children 
are  all  alive  and  well  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     You  have  every  reason  to  believe  that? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Would  there  be  anything  about  his  effects 
that  would  in  any  way  serve  to  give  notice  if  any- 
thing had  occurred  to  him  ? 

A.     No,  I  am  sure  of  that  because  I  was  in  a 


66  HOLMES'    FIRST  CONFESSION. 

little  difficulty  in  St.  Louit>  last  suimuer,  and  so 
we  talked  over  at  that  time  all  the  names  aud 
everything.  I  had  a  good  many  pa[)er6  on  me  at 
that  time.  He  had  allowed  his  beard  to  grow  and 
he  has  new  teeth.  He  had  them  all  extracted. 
He  said  he  was  going  to  have  them  the  first  thing 
when  he  got  to  New  York.  He  has  not  nearly 
as  many  as  the  body  and  that  can  be  easily  estab- 
lished. In  fact,  it  is  easily  proven  also,  that  I 
left  Philadelphia  also  on  Sundav  night  before  the 
time  when  lie  was  last  seen  by  the  coroner's 
witnesses, — outsiders  saw  him  after  I  left  Phila- 
delphia. My  wife  and  I  went  through  on  a  Pull- 
man. 

Q.  If  you  were  obliged  to  establish  the  fact, 
can  you  show  any  meetings  with  him  after  leaving 
him  in  Philadelphia  at  the  time  you  gave  him  the 
check  for  the  trunk  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  I  think  I  can.  While  they  were 
made  as  secret  as  they  could  be,  we  sat  for  a  good 
hour  in  the  hotel.  I  took  the  children  to  a  cer- 
tain hotel  in  Cincinnati  and  kept  them  upstairs, 
and  I  sat  down  for  a  good  length  of  time  in  their 
writing  room,  and  I  was  writing  and  they  knew 
me  well  by  sight  there,  and  I  think  I  can  estab- 
lish that  fact. 


THE  CLANG  OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  67 

Q.     Was  he  there  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     You  sat  there  with  him  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir.     No,  it  was  at  the  other  hotel. 

Q.     What  hotel  ? 

A.  Well,  I  would  have  to  see  a  Cincinnati 
directory.     I  could  pick  them  out. 

Q.  Now  at  any  other  point?  How  about 
Detroit  ? 

A.  He  slipped  in  there  where  the  girls  stayed 
and  I  happened  to  be  in  there  at  the  time  once. 
We  kept  as  far  apart  as  we  could  there  and  I 
took  him  out  of  Detroit,  that  is,  from  the  centre 
part  out  where  the  children  met  him,  in  a  big 
trunk. 

Q.  The  same  as  you  had  shipped  his  body 
before. 

A.  Yes,  sir.  We  had  a  scare  there.  I  got 
some  word  from  Chicago,  but  it  pertained  to  this 
Fort  Worth  matter,  that  officers  had  been  there, 
looking  for  us,  and  I  knew  if  they  obtained  a  clue, 
they  could  easily  trace  me  to  Detroit,  so  I  came 
out  from  his  place  there  and  took  him  outside  the 
city  almost,  and  took  the  children  out  in  a  buggy 
to  where  he  was.  The  children  were  apparently 
with  me.     They  knew  me  as  their  uncle. 


68  HOLMES'    F1U6T  CONFESSION. 

Q.  You  were  known  to  the "  children  as  their 
uncle  ? 

A.  They  knew  different,  but  in  the  houbc 
where  they  stayed,  I  was  known  as  such. 

Q.     That  was  in  Detroit  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  By  getting  a  plan  of  Detroit,  I 
could  tell  where  it  was,  the  streets  where  th^  girls 
stayed,  if  it  became  necessary  to  substantiate  my 
statements,  and  I  go  there,  they  would  know  me 
also  as  being  there. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  Where  did  you  take 
the  trunks  from  ? 

A.  I  took  it  more  than  two  miles  and  let  him 
out. 

Q.     In  a  house  or  in  the  woods  ? 

A.  Way  outside  of  the  city.  I  went  to  a 
stable  and  got  a  horse  and  wagon  there. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Hanscom.)  Did  you  drive  the 
wagon  ?• 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     It  must  have  been  an  express  ? 

A.  No,  it  was  a  buggy  with  sort  of  heavy 
back.  I  tried  to  get  an  express  wagon  and  they 
had  not  anything  except  a  very  large  one,  so  the 
trunk  went  on  behind  by  tying  it  on.     I  don't 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  69 

think  he  went  more  than  a  mile  in  tliat  way,  a 
mile  or  two. 

Q,  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  Who  helped  you  to 
put  the  trunk  in  the  buggy? 

A.     I  put  in  the  trunk. 

Q.     Did  you  put  it  in  alone  ? 

A.     I  put  it  in  alone. 

Q.     Did  you  take  it  nut  alone  ? 

A.  No,  all  I  liad  to  do  was  to  put  the  lid  back 
when  he  got  out. 

Q.     Was  that  on  the  roadway  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  Well,  it  was  outside  of  the  city, 
about  two  miles  from  the  centre  of  the  town. 
The  occasion  of  it  was  that  I  thought  that  officers 
were  then  watching  him,  but  not  me. 

Q.     Did  you  see  him  after  that? 

A.  Yes,  just  long  enough  to  drive  out  with  the 
children  in  the  buggy. 

Q.  The  children  did  not  go  with  you  on  this 
first  trip  ? 

A.  Oh  no,  I  took  him  in  a  light  buggy,  and  he 
waited  there  for  the  children. 

Q.  That  same  day  did  you  drive  out  with  the 
children? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 


70  HOLMES'    FIRST  COXFESSIOX. 

Q.  (By  Mr,  Hansconi.)  Wliat  was  the  object 
of  going  out  there  that  way? 

A.  I  had  got  word  from  Chicago  tliat  officers 
from  Fort  Worth  were  there.  I  thought  then 
it  was  on  this  matter,  and  said  they  liad  got 
track  of  both  of  us.  He  was  at  Fort  Worth  with 
me. 

Q.  Then  the  last  time  you  met  was  when  you 
took  the  children  out  there  to  see  him.  The  last 
time  that  you  actually  saw  him  ? 

A.  Yes.  It  was  somewhere  about  4  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  day  that  I  carried  him  out  in 
the  trunk.  He  had  gone  across  from  there,  from 
a  certain  place  where  I  left  him,  over  to  another 
place  of  meeting. 

Q.     Did  you  go  across  the  bridge  ? 

A.  No,  I  did  not  go  over  with  him.  I  did  not 
go  for  a  C'luplo  of  days.  I  had  to  wait  to  get 
them.  I  cariied  the  children  out  to  him.  He 
W!is  to  send  in  a  boy  for  the  satchel.  I  did  not 
take  it  away  because  I  feai-ed  the  officers  were 
watcliiiig  and  we  were  only  going  out  to  ride. 

Q.     From  that  j)oint  he  started  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Towards  Canada? 

A.     No,  I  don't  think  so.     It  was  spoken   of 


THE  CLANG    OF   THE  CELL   DOOR.  71 

that  he  would  go  to  Detrnit  after  Toronto,  aiid 
wait  there  until  I  could  get  the  wife  and  the  other 
two  children,  and  he  hated  to  go  aw.ay  without  see 
ing  them. 

Q.     Have  you  heard  from  him  since  ? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.  All  you  know  about  New  York  and  about 
his  taking  a  steamer  for  any  point  in  tlie  South  or 
for  South  America  is  what  had  been  previously 
agreed  upon  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     And  you  have  not  heard  yet? 

A.     No,  sir,  it  is  hardly  time. 

Q.     Under  what  name  was  he  to  address  you  ? 

A.  Well,  I  can't  tell  you  that,  any  more 
than  he  asked  me  particularly  what  name,  and  I 
said  it  was  safe  enough  to  address  me  as  Howard 
at  Room  30,  No.  69  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago. 

Q.     Under  the  name  of  Howard  or  Holmes? 

Q.  Yes,  almost  any  strange  name  to  them, 
either  those  two,  or  some  name  that  did  not  be- 
long in  the  office. 

Q.  Was  this  correspondence  to  be  sent  in  any 
care  ? 

A.     In  care  of  Mr.  Frank  Blackman. 

Q.     Who  is  Frank  Blackman  ? 


72  HOLMES'   FIEST  CONFESSION. 

A.  A  real  estate  dealer,  and  during  my  ab- 
sence from  the  city  he  was  liaving  charge  of  my 
money  affairs  there. 

Q.  How  many  weeks  ago  or  days  ago,  was 
this  final  and  last  meeting  with  him  in  Detroit? 

A.  As  near  as  I  can  guess  it  was  three  weeks 
ago. 

Q.  About  three  weeks  ago  that  you  left  De- 
troit ? 

A.  Possibly  a  little  more.  I  can  give  those 
dates  by  referring  to  others,  that  is,  my  wife. 

Q.  Have  you  any  reason  to  believe  that  there 
is  any  mail  waiting  for  you  at  this  Chicago,  Dear- 
born St.  office  ? 

A.  We  got  some  this  morning.  It  comes  as 
fast  as  it  is  received. 

Q.  Since  delivering  the  children  to  him  on  the 
outskirts  of  Detroit,  you  have  not  seen  or  heard 
from  him  directly  or  indirectly? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.     Has  his  wife  been  in  search  of  him  lately? 

A.  Oh  no,  because  after  this  break  that  he 
made  in  regard  to  seeing  the  children,  I  have  had 
to  tell  her  while  I  could  get  her  in  shape  to  send 
her  to  him,  that  he  was  here  and  there  and  put 
her  off. 


Eeau  of  No.  1316  Callowhill  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  <OELL  DOOR.  75 

Q.  You  have  put  her  off  by  telling  her  that 
her  husband  was  at  different  points  about  the 
country  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir,  I  acted  under  him. 

Q.     Such  is  the  fact  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  she  has  been  to  Toronto  in  pursuit  of 
them  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  and  Ogdensburg  and  Burlington, 
Vt.  I  have  expected  every  day  to  get  w^ord 
where  he  was,  and  that  was  my  idea  of  getting 
her  here,  so  to  ship  her  and  the  children  from 
here. 

Q.  I  want  to  know  whether  or  not  you  have 
taken  her  from  point  to  point  with  the  under- 
standing that  she  was  to  see  her  husband  ? 

A.  She  was  to  have  met  him  at  Detroit.  In 
fact,  she  was  to  meet  him  in  Cincinnati. 

Q.  She  was  to  have  met  him  in  Cincinnati  and 
then  she  went  from  Cincinnati  to  Detroit  ? 

A.  No,  sir,  she  went  to  Galva,  her  old  home, 
and  was  to  wait  there  until  I  telegraphed  her  and 
got  their  homes  in  Cincinnati. 

Q.     Did  she  do  it  ? 

A.  No,  sir,  because  when  he  saw  the  children 
I  sent  word  then  for  her  to  go  to  Chicago  and 


76  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

from  there  to  Detroit.  It  broke  her  plans  com- 
pletely up  when  he  saw  the  children.  He  begged 
of  me  not  to  let  her  know  it,  because  he  wanted 
to  see  her  and  I  agreed  to  go  as  far  as  Detroit 
and  take  a  house  there  and  see  her  alone, 
and  then  let  the  children  go  and  tell  her  after- 
wards. 

Q.     But  he  did  not  see  her  in  Detroit  ? 

A.  No.  When  he  was  sober  he  saw  the  diffi- 
culty of  having  the  children  stay  with  her  after 
he  had  seen  them  on  account  of  their  talking. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  You  said  that  your 
wife  could  fill  out  certain  blanks  that  you  have 
left? 

A.     She  remembers  everything  for  a  year  past. 

Q.  Have  you  remembered  where  you  stopped 
in  Philadelphia? 

A.     Yes,  it  is  near 

Q.  Was  it  13th  Street  at  the  house  of  a  Mrs. 
Dr.  Alcott  ? 

A.  That  is  the  name,  but  it  is  on  11th  Street, 
unless  I  am  very  much  mistaken,  near  No. 1900  on 
11th  Street.  Dr.  Howell  is  the  name  that  I  went 
under.     The  doctor  s  name  is  Alcott.     (Alcorn.) 

Q.  At  the  time  that  you  went  to  Detroit,  your 
wife  was  in  Indianapolis  ? 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  11 

A.     Well,  which  time  ? 

Q.  The  time  that  you  were  going  to  meet 
Pitezel.  Your  wife  left  Indianapolis  on  October 
12th,  and  joined  you  somewhere  near  Peru  ? 

A.  I  think  it  was  near  Peru,  it  was  an  adjoin- 
ing place  on  the  road. 

Q.  Then  you  arrived  in  Detroit,  Friday,  Oc- 
tober the  12th  ? 

A.     I  will  not  say  as  to  the  date. 

Q.     That  is  from  your  wife's  memorandum  ? 

A.     I  think  you  can  depend  upon  her. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  where  you  stopped  in 
Detroit  ?     Was  it  Park  Place  ? 

A.     Well,  we  first  went  to  a  hotel. 

Q.     No.  40  Park  Place  ? 

A.  I  can't  tell  as  to  numbers.  It  was  near 
what  they  call, — yes.  Park  Place. 

Q.     And  you  took  your  meals  at  the  Cadillac  ? 

A.     Yes,  mostly. 

Q.  Do  you  know  when  you  left  Detroit  to  go 
to  Toronto  ? 

A.  I  think  we  were  there  just  a  week  and  two 
days,  in  Detroit. 

Q.  You  arrived  in  Toronto  on  October  18th 
in  the  evening  ? 

A.     I    don't    think    those    dates    will   corres- 


78  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

pond,  because  I  think  we  were  at  this  house  a 
week. 

Q.  This  is  taken  from  a  memorandum  book  in 
your  wife's  hand.  "  Arrived  at  Toronto  October 
18th  and  went  to  the  Walker  House." 

A.     Then  you  can  depend  upon  it. 

Q.  On  Saturday  the  20th  you  went  to  Niagara 
and  stopped  at  the  Imperial  Hotel  on  the  Canada 
side? 

A.     Yes,  sir,  that  is  right. 

Q.  On  Sunday  the  21st  you  returned  to  To- 
ronto and  went  to  the  Palmer  House  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  October  25th  you  went  to  Prescott  and 
stopped  at  the  Imperial  Hotel  ? 

A.  I  don't  think  that  was  the  name  of  the 
house. 

Q.  On  October  27th  you  crossed  to  Ogdens- 
burg.  New  York  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  On  the  31st  went  to  Burlington,  Vermont, 
and  took  up  your  residence  at  No.  19  George 
Street  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  In  all  the  places,  in  Ogdensburg 
I  tried  to  get  a  suitable  place  to  leave  the  family. 
I  did  not  want  to  keep  them  around. 


THE  CLANG  OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  79 

Q.  Did  Mrs.  Pitezel  go  to  all  these  places  with 
you? 

A.  Well,  she  left  Toronto  the  day  before  we 
did  and  went  to  Ogdensburg  direct. 

Q.  She  did  not  touch  Prescott  or  Niagara,  that 
is,  only  through  Prescott  to  Ogdensburg. 

A.     That  is  all. 

Q.  On  November  5th,  did  you  obtain  any  money 
from  your  wife  in  Burlington  ? 

A.  She  was  carrying  a  thousand  dollars  for  me, 
and,  without  being  explicit  as  to  date,  she  gave  it  to 
me. 

Q.  What  did  you  tell  her  you  were  going  to 
do  with  it  ? 

A.  I  told  her  I  was  going  East  to  meet  some- 
one from  Chicago. 

Q.     You  stated  where  East? 

A.  Kingston,  and  in  fact  I  used  it  to  pay  bills 
in  the  East  that  I  was  owing  years  ago  for  my  edu- 
cation in  Gilmanton,  N.  H.  where  my  father  and 
mother  live. 

Q.  So  that  it  was  expended  at  Tilton  and 
Gilmanton  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  On  that  same  day  on  arrival  in  Tilton  you 
went  to  the  Adams  Express  Office  ? 


80  HOLMES'    FIRST  CONFESSION. 

A.     States  Express,  I  think  it  was. 

Q.  And  got  a  box  about  four  feet  long,  two 
and  a  half  feet  wide,  and  one  and  a  half  feet 
thick,  what  did  that  contain  ? 

A.  That  was  filled  with  blankets  and  things 
from  my  buildings  in  Chicago,  new  ones,  blankets 
and  spreads. 

Q.     To  whom  did  you  take  the  box  ? 

A.  Well,  I  gave  my  part  of  them,  in  fact  I 
guess  all  of  them  went  to  Gilmanton  to  my  mother 
and  one  of  my  brothers. 

Q.  During  all  the  time  that  you  were  at  Til- 
ton,  Franklin  and  Gilmanton,  your  wife  thought 
you  were  witli  this  lawyer  in  Kingston  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  she  did  not  know  that  I  had  any 
relatives ;  and  I  will  say,  that  she  has  not  known 
that  this  woman  or  any  of  the  family  has  been  go- 
ing from  place  to  place.  I  had  to  send  her  ahead 
or  to  follow. 

Q.     That  is,  Mrs.  Pitezel  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  My  wife  has  known  nothing  of 
the  insurance  matter  in  any  way,  shape  or  form. 

Q.  When  did  Mrs.  Pitezel  first  become  ac- 
quainted with  this  scheme? 

A.  Well,  it  is  pretty  hard  to  tell,  because  I 
found  out  a  week  or  two  ago  here,  that  her  oldest 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  81 

daughter  had  known  of  it  in  the  summer  ;  that  her 
father  had  told  her  if  anything  happened  to  him 
not  to  be  worried  ;  that  he  wauld  not  be  dead,  and 
whether  it  was  the  same  case  with  Mrs.  Pitezel  or 
not,  I  cannot  tell,  but  my  object  in  leaving  Phila- 
delphia a  little  ahead  of  when  it  should  come  out 
in  the  papers,  was  so  to  get  there,  to  sort  of  break 
it  to  her,  tell  her  if  she  saw  it  in  the  papers  it  was 
not  a  fact.  Now,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge 
and  belief  that  was  when  she  first  knew  of  it. 

Q.  Did  she  know  from  the  papers,  anything 
about  the  finding  of  the  body  of  Perry  before  you 
saw  her  ? 

A.  They  found  it  out  in  the  morning  in  the 
papers,  that  is,  the  family,  the  entire  family  read 
it  and  naturally  supposed  it  to  be  true. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Hanscom.)  Did  it  seem  to  be  gen- 
uine grief  on  their  part  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir,  the  doctor  even  was  called. 

Q.  Then  really  you  believe  that  was  the  first 
they  knew  ? 

A.  Yes,  this  oldest  daughter  was  taking  on  just 
as  bad  as  any  and  I  know  now  that  she  knew  or 
supposed  it  was  not  really  death. 

Q.  The  mother  is  rather  an  illiterate,  plain 
person  ? 


82  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  Then  you  saw  her  the 
day  she  read  this  in  the  paper  ? 

A.     The  night. 

Q.  What  conversation  did  you  have  with  her 
then? 

A.     I  told  her  then  that  she  need  not  worry. 

Q.  Did  you  on  that  evening  tell  her  that  her 
husband  was  alive  ? 

A.     Yes,  I  am  sure  of  that. 

Q.  Then  if  you  told  her  that  her  husband  was 
alive,  there  must  have  been  some  conversation  that 
you  had  with  her  in  regard  to  the  job  that  was  put 
up  in  Philadelphia  ? 

A.  Oh  yes,  I  spoke  to  her  the  next  day.  That 
is  why  I  hastened  there.  In  fact,  I  told  him  to 
hold  on,  not  to  leave  the  house,  not  prepare  this 
body  until  Monday  some  time,  but  the  evidence 
seems  to  show  that  he  got  scared  or  something 
and  did  not  want  to  stay  with  it  over  night. 

Q.  Before  calling  on  Mrs.  Pitezel  did  you  see 
Jeptha  D.  Howe  ? 

A.  I  did  not  see  him  until  the  next  morning. 
I  remember  that  I  got  in  on  the  six  something 
train  and  went  to  the  office  to  see  him  and  he  had 
gone,  and  I  saw  him  the  following  morning.     I 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  83 

had  seen  him  previously  about  the  arrange- 
ment. 

Q.  Did  you  tell  him  of  your  interview  with 
Mrs.  Pitezel  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Did  he  then  see  her  ? 

A.     I  think  it  was  the  next  day. 

Q.     Were  you  with  him  at  the  time  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     At  her  house  or  his  office  ? 

A.     At  his  office. 

Q.  Did  she  go  alone  to  his  office  or  did  you 
take  her  there  ? 

A.  I  think  I  took  her  the  first  time  and  intro- 
duced her.  Oh,  I  remember  she  was  there  in  the 
morning  waiting  and  we  were  both  there  waiting 
when  Mr.  Howe  ciime  on  the  landing  there. 

Q.  Was  there  anybody  at  the  interview  or 
conference,  except  yourself,  Howe  and  Mrs.  Pite- 
zel? 

A.  I  don't  think  there  was,  unless  a  young 
lady  that  sat  there,  a  stenograplier.  I  am  almost 
sure  a  stenographer  was  there. 

Q.  Was  she  engaged  in  taking  dmvn  this  con- 
versation ? 

A.     No,  I  don't  tliink  so. 


84  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION, 

Q.     When  was  the  next  conference,  and  where  ? 

A.  I  think  she  went  there  the  next  day  at  Mr. 
Howe's  office  and  was  there  before  I  got  there ;  in 
fact,  I  don't  think  I  saw  her  much  that  date  only 
as  she  came  out  of  there  just  for  a  minute  or  two, 
on  the  landing  to  talk. 

Q.  Did  she  object  very  strenuously  to  carrying 
out  this  sclieme  ? 

A.  No,  not  then  after  I  explained  it.  She  said 
she  ivas  in  it  and  would  do  her  best  to  carry  it 
out. 

Q.  What  inducements  did  you  hold  ovit  to  her 
to  carry  on  this  scheme  ? 

A.     It  was  the  money. 

Q.     Was  she  promised  any  amount  of  money? 

A.  No,  it  was  agreed  that  this  money  sliould 
be  used  to  protect  the  property  in  Fort  Worth, 
that  her  husband  and  I  were  both  interested  in. 

Q.  At  that  time  was  there  anytliing  stated  to 
Howe,  or  by  Howe,  as  to  what  his  fees  were  to 
be? 

A.  It  was  spoken  of  and  he  said  it  would  be 
all  right,  he  would  not  set  a  price,  but  really  the 
object  he  had  in  going  to  take  hold  of  the  case 
was  to  get  money  to  liberate  his  other  client  who 
was  in  jail.     (Marion  Hedgepeth.) 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  85 

Q.  How  many  interviews  did  you  have  alto- 
gether with  Howe,  when  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  pres- 
ent? 

A.     Oh,  perhaps  half  a  dozen. 

Q.     Running  over  how  many  days? 

A.  Well,  perhaps  ten  days,  because  in  the 
meantime  I  went  away  to  Franklin,  I  know,  and 
then  there  was  an  interview  after  I  got  back,  after 
he  got  the  money. 

Q.  In  each  of  these  interviews  in  which  Mrs. 
Pitezel  was  present,  she  knew,  or  was  led  to  be- 
lieve that  her  husband  was  still  alive  ? 

A.  Oh  yes,  she  did.  And  one  thing,  it  was 
agreed  between  Howe  and  myself,  that  Mrs.  Pite- 
zel should  not  know  but  what  he  thought  it  was  a 
genuine  death. 

Q.     What  was  that  ? 

A.  It  was  agreed  between  Howe,  the  attorney, 
and  myself,  that  Mrs.  Pitezel  did  not  know  that 
he  was  acting  in  an  underhand  way. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Hanscom.)  Has  Mrs.  Pitezel  re- 
ceived any  letters  from  her  husband  since  she  was 
in  Detroit  ? 

A.  I  think  it  was  since  then,  one  in  a  sort  of 
cipher.  I  have  been  in  the  habit  for  years  of 
using  cipher  and  they  fixed  one  up,  a  simple  de- 


86  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

vice,  using  figures  instead  of  letters.  Aside  from 
this  there  was  none. 

Q.     She  has  received  one  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir,  she  read  part  of  it  to  me. 

Q.     Where  was  it  from  ? 

A.  Well,  it  was  written,  I  know,  in  Detroit. 
He  had  me  keep  it  so  if  she  got  anxious  and  wor- 
ried to  say  he  was  all  right. 

Q.  He  wrote  a  cipher  letter  to  his  wife  and 
that  was  entrusted  to  your  custody  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir.  I  think  it  was  given  to  her  in 
Ogdensburg,  at  some  point  on  my  travels  since. 
She  might  not  recall  it,  it  was  all  in  figures. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  You  stated  that  there 
was  to  be  some  arrangements  made  so  that  you 
could  communicate  through  the  New  York  Htrald 
or  Chicago  Tribune  ;  did  you  have  any  such  com- 
munication ? 

A.  No,  sir,  that  was  after  he  got  away.  There 
was  no  occasion  then.  But  instead  of  my  writing 
him,  I  was  to  communicate  with  him  there  and 
my  mail  was  to  have  come  from  Chicago,  I  was 
not  to  have  it  direct. 

Q.  Now,  I  am  going  to  ask  you  a  question. 
From  whom  did  you  get  the  body  in  New  York  ? 

A.     Well,  I  have  refused  thus  far  to  state.     I 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  87 

told  Mr.  Perry  I  thought  I  would,  but  if  Pitezel 
comes  up  in  a  few  days  I  would  rather  not  tell 
that,  because  I  was  concerned  years  ago  with  this 
doctor,  in  something  not  exactly  of  this  nature, 
but  so  intimately  that  in  the  position  he  is  in,  it 
would  hurt  him  very  much.  Of  course,  I  will  if 
it  comes  right  down  to  saving  myself. 

Q.  I  think  that  while  you  are  telling  this  thing, 
you  should  tell  the  whole  truth  right  as  it  is.  It 
is  a  matter  that  must  come  out  in  time  and  now 
is  as  good  a  time  as  any  other. 

A.  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  I  have 
tried  since  I  told  Inspector  Watts  that  I  would 
not  tell  anything  but  the  truth,  that  I  would  try 
to  make  it  plain,  but  it  is  more  than  that.  He  is 
a  man  now  well  enough  to  do,  so  that  if  my  wife 
becomes  penniless,  if  I  am  shut  up  for  a  term  of 
years,  I  think  I  can  call  upon  him  for  help. 

Q.  Then  you  understand  that  the  party  who 
furnished  you  the  body  had  no  guilty  knowledge  ? 

A.  They  did,  they  knew  well  enough  while  it 
was  being  talked  over ;  they  knew  from  our  past 
connection  well  enough,  from  the  receipts  that  we 
got  from  the  insurance  company,  he  knew  what 
the  body  was  going  to  be  used  for.  The  very 
fact  that  I  wanted  one  with  a  wart  on  the  neck. 


88  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

Q.  Was  the  body  placed  in  the  trunk  in  the 
house  there  ? 

A.  I'd  rather  not  answer  that.  I  don't  want 
to  antagonize  you  in  the  least,  but  for  the  time  be- 
ing I'd  rather  wait. 

Q.     Where  was  the  trunk  purchased? 

A.  It  was  a  trunk  that  we  had  back  and  forth. 
It  had  been  tliere  in  his  house,  an  old  trunk  pur- 
posely, so  as  not  to  draw  attention  to  it.  I  can- 
not tell  where  it  was  purchased,  years  old.  The 
trunk  belonged  to  him. 

Q.  How  much  money  did  Mrs.  Pitezel  give 
you?  You  said  that  she  gave  you  -11,800  to  be 
given  to  Pitezel  ? 

A.  It  came  in  a  lump  sum.  I  can  give  you 
a  rough  guess  within  a  few  hundred  dollars  that 
was  paid  by  the  insurance  company  and  I  cannot 
tell.  (Figures  it  up).  In  the  neighborhood  of 
$7,000. 

Q.     That  is  what  she  gave  you  ? 

A.  I  can  put  it  in  this  way,  that  Howe  gave 
Mrs.  Pitezel  just  about  $7,000  and  she  gave  me 
^5,000  something  odd. 

Q.  Tliat  is,  that  Howe  gave  Mrs.  Pitezel 
$7,000  about  and  Mrs.  Pitezel  gave  you  $5,000  ? 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  89 

A.  Yes,  and  before  that  to  pay  a  certain  bill 
there. 

Q.     What  was  the  bill,  a  bill  to  Becker? 

A.  Yes,  and  |400  that  I  was  owing,  attorne3''s 
fees  on  another  matter,  so  directly  and  indi- 
rectly she  caused  to  come  into  my  hands  about 
$7,000. 

Q.     What  disposition  was  made  of  that  ? 

A.  Well,  to  make  it  clear  I  will  have  to  ex- 
plain the  business  in  the  South  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent. We  took  of  a  party  by  the  name  of  Will- 
iams, a  certain  piece  of  property  to  build  upon, 
agreed  to  pay  her  $10,000  for  it,  and  last  spring 
from  time  to  time  we  paid  her  $2,500.  This  we 
sent  to  her,  and  the  receipt  was  in  the  shape  of 
several  pieces  of  paper,  notes,  and  quite  a  con- 
siderable amount  was  sent  to  take  them  up.  I 
forget  how  much,  less  than  $5,000. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  one  night  in  Indianapo- 
lis telling  your  wife  that  you  had  sold  certain 
Fort  Worth  property  for  $35,000,  $10,000  to  be 
paid  in  cash,  and  the  balance  in  bonds  and  mort- 
gages ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  this  very  piece  of  property  she 
supposed. 

Q.     Now  then  you  took  a  roll  of  bills  out  of 


90  HOLBIES'    FIRST  CONFESSION. 

your  pocket,  was  that  supposed  to  be  part  of  the 
$10,000  ? 

A.  I  think  she  has  got  the  two  dates  con- 
founded, because  I  went  to  Detroit  to  consum- 
mate this  sale  that  she  was  so  anxious  to  have 
made. 

Q.     This  took  place  in  Detroit? 

A.     Yes,  the  last  time. 

Q.  And  you  told  her  that  Blackman  had 
$5,000? 

A.  The  question  was  naturally  where  was  the 
$10,000.  I  told  her  that  |5,000  I  sent  to  Chicago. 
I  don't  think  I  said  to  Blackman,  though  she  was 
led  to  think  that. 

Q.     Part  of  it  you  entrusted  to  her  ? 

A.     I  gave  her  a  thousand  dollars. 

Q.  In  Cincinnati  how  much  did  you  give  Pite- 
zel? 

A.  In  Cincinnati  only  a  very  little,  a  couple  of 
hundred  dollars. 

Q.     In  Detroit  ? 

A.  I  think  it  was  $1,825,  or  twenty  odd  dol- 
lars, making  the  two  sums  $2,000  with  what  I  had 
given  him  in  Cincinnati. 

Q.  That  is  the  amount  that  Pitezel  got  out  of 
the  whole  affair? 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOB.  93 

A.  Hardly,  because  he  profited  out  of  what 
was  got  out  of  this  Fort  Worth.  Tliat  was  all  in 
cash. 

Q.     How  much  had  Mrs.  Pitezel  ? 

A.  Oh,  very  little,  a  few  hundred  dollars.  His 
orders  were  to  give  it  to  her  from  time  to  time. 

Q.     How  much  was  allowed  to  Jeptha  D.  Howe? 

A.     He  took  $2,500. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  how  many  times  you  saw 
Pitezel  in  Philadelphia  after  or  before  j^ou  had 
taken  the  house  on  Callowhill  Street? 

A.  Once  or  twice  I  guess  before  and  perhaps 
three  times,  very  few  times  publicly.  I  would  try 
to  meet  him  perhaps  on  the  street  cars  or  corners, 
I  kept  away  purposely  from  his  place  of  business. 

Q.  How  many  times  did  you  visit  the  house  on 
Callowhill  Street? 

A.     I  think  three  times. 

Q.      You  ivent  zvith  him  to  buy  the  furniture  ? 

A.  I  think  I  was  with  him  when  he  bought 
the  first  of  the  furniture,  but  he  went  one  way 
and  I  another,  to  hunt  up  furniture  houses,  and  I 
think  it  was  at  one  of  those  places  that  we  had 
found  what  we  bought. 

Q.     Who  paid  for  it  ? 

A.     He  paid  for  it. 


94  H0L3IES'   FIEST  CONFESSION. 

Q.     Do  you  remember  the  name  ? 

A.  No,  I  can  go  to  it  readily.  It  seems  as 
though  it  was  on  13tli  Street. 

Q.  Do  you  remember  the  man  from  whom  you 
purcliased  it  ? 

A.     I  could  tell  him  by  sight. 

Q.  Did  you  have  an  invoice  of  what  you 
bought  ? 

A.  No,  he  paid.  I  don't  think  there  was  any 
bill.  It  was  sent  down  the  next  day,  and  then  he 
told  me  he  went  back  again  and  bought  some 
other  things. 

Q.  Were  you  with  him  in  any  other  store  in 
Philadelphia,  outside  of  this  furniture  store  ? 

A.     It  don't  seem  to  me  as  though  I  was. 

Q.     Prior  to  that? 

A.  Yes,  prior,  I  think  we  went  into  one  or  two 
places  together  to  see  about  furniture. 

Q.  Prior  to  his  securing  the  house  on  Callow- 
hill  Street,  where  did  he  room  ? 

A.  It  seems  to  me  it  was  on  Arch  Street.  It 
was  near  11th.  I  know  I  had  to  come  down  from 
where  I  was  rooming  and  go  a  little  ways  on  Arch, 
where  it  said  "  boarding  house,"  on  Arch  or  Vine 
Street.  ^ 

Q.     Did  you  visit  him  in  his  room  there  ? 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  95 

A.     Yes,  I  think  once  or  twice. 

Q.  Had  you  any  correspondence  or  made  any 
arrangement  with  this  party  in  New  York  in  re- 
gard to  securing  this  body  ? 

A.  I  saw  him  personally  when  I  was  in  New 
York  just  before  going  to  Philadelphia,  and  then 
after  that  I  went  up  once,  I  guess  the  Thursday 
before  I  got  it  on  Sunday. 

Q.  What  was  the  occasion  of  your  going  to 
New  York  from  Philadelphia  ? 

A.  Why  we  found  afterwards  we  were  right  in 
front  of  the  morgue,  but  we  did  not  know  it  then, 
and  I  know  this  man  there  and  I  had  no  other 
place  to  go  for  it. 

Q.  Then  your  purpose  for  visiting  New  York 
was  simply  to  see  this  man  in  regard  to  getting 
the  body  ? 

A.  Yes,  I  don't  think  there  was  any  other 
business  transacted  there,  though  he  sent  from 
there  some  of  his  insurance  premiums,  but  that 
was  before  we  had  gone  to  Philadelphia,  that  was 
paying  the  six  months'  premium  or  the  balance,  I 
don't  know  how  much. 

Q.     That  was  telegraphed  to  Chicago? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     Did  you  furnish  the  money  ? 


96  HOLMES'    FIRST  CONFESSION. 

A.  Yes,  in  a  sense,  on  account  of  his  drinking 
some,  I  generally  carried  the  money. 

Q.     It  was  sent  by  him  ? 

A.  I  cannot  tell  that  particular  money, 
whether  is  was  through  him  or  me,  but  between 
us  we  furnished  the  money. 

Q.     It  was  telegraphed  ? 

A.  Yes,  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  sending 
of  it.     He  went  on  himself  to  see  about  it. 

Q.  Where  did  you  meet  this  party  in  New 
York  about  the  body  ? 

A.  It  was  at  the  house — I  would  rather  leave 
that  out. 

Q.  I  tell  you  again,  that  unless  Pitezel  is  pro- 
duced alive  we  must  consider  Pitezel  dead. 

A.  I  understand  it  and  that  is  why  I  say  that, 
which  I  can  prove  in  Philadelphia  to  the  contrary. 
I  don't  care  how  soon  Pitezel  is  brought  to  the 
front  now.  I  have  almost  got  to  do  it  to  protect 
myself.  It  is  not  that  I  wish  to  go  back  on  him 
by  any  means. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Hanscom.)  You  expect  in  any 
event  that  there  will  be  imprisonment  go  with  it  ? 

A.  I  certainly  do.  I  told  my  wife,  I  begged 
her  to  go  away  and  drop  it  because  I  expected  a 
term  at  the  penitentiary. 


THE  CLANG   OF  THE  CELL  DOOR.  97 

Q.  Of  course,  it  is  desirable  for  you  not  to  be 
held  for  the  greater  offence  ? 

A.  I  certainly  don't  want  to  be  held  for  mur- 
der. While  I  am  bad  enough  on  smaller  things,  I 
am  not  guilty  of  that  and  I  certainly  can  prove  in 
Philadelphia  by  records,  etc.,  they  would  remem- 
ber because  I  was  sick  at  the  time,  fees  to  por- 
ters, etc.,  prove  that  I  was  out  of  Philadelphia ; 
that  he  was  seen  alive  after  that,  if  I  am  allowed 
a  chance  to  do  it. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  I  understand  you  to 
say,  that  you  had  previously  had  connections  with 
his  doctor  in  New  York  ? 

A.  Yes,  that  is  the  greatest  reason  why  at  this 
time 

Q.     Of  a  criminal  nature  ? 

A.  Well,  I  cannot  be  expected  to  answer  that, 
I  don't  think.  It  was  not  an  insurance  arrange- 
ment hardly,  but  any  way,  we  both  profited  by  it. 

This  statement  it  will  be  observed,  leaves  ob- 
scure the  whereabouts  of  the  three  children.  He 
places  them  in  South  America  with  their  father, 
and  describes  one  of  the  girls  as  being  dressed  as 
a  boy.  The  main  purpose  of  the  interview  was  to 
ascertain,  whether  Pitezel  was  alive  or  dead,  and 


98  HOLMES'   FIRST  CONFESSION. 

if  alive,  how  the  substitution  of  a  dead  body,  ob- 
tained in  New  York,  had  been  effected.  The  fate 
of  the  children  was  overlooked  for  the  time. 
That  they  had  been  murdered  was  not  dreamed 
of ;  in  fact,  the  case  was  too  fresh,  and  oppor- 
tunity had  not  yet  arrived  for  either  the  police  or 
the  detectives  of  the  company  to  verify  or  disprove 
the  statements  of  the  prisoner.  The  authoritie 
were  yet  groping  in  the  dark. 


CHAPTER  V, 

]  THE   WAGES   OF   SIN. 

Mrs.  Pitezel  Questioned  by  the  Police— Her  Pitiable  Condi- 
tion— Complicity  in  the  Plot — Tries  to  Shield  Her  Hus- 
band— Prepared  for  His  Disappearance — Believed  Him 
Alive— Gives  Holmes  $7,000— Had  Parted  with  Three 
Children — Other  Details  of  the  Examination — The  Pris- 
oners Taken  to  Philadelphia — Holmes  Tries  to  Bribe  De- 
tective Crawford — Committed  for  Trial — Howe  Brought 
from  St.  Louis — H.  H.  Holmes,  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel, 
Carrie  A.  Pitezel  and  Jeptha  D.  Howe  Formally  Indicted 
by  the  Grand  Jury. 

Poor  Mrs.  Pitezel !  What  a  wretched  plight 
she  was  in  !  Her  husband  had  disappeared  ; 
Alice,  Nellie  and  Howard  were  in  unknown 
hands,  her  other  two  children,  Dessie,  her  eldest 
daughter,  and  her  year  old  infant, were  witliout  a 
protector,  and  she  was  in  prison,  under  suspicion 
of  having  been  a  party  to  a  conspiracy  to  cheat 
and  defraud  an  insurance  company. 

After  Messrs.  Hanscom  &  Cornish  had  obtained 
the  statement  from  Holmes,  given  in  full  in  the 
previous  chapter,  they  turned  their  attention  to 
Mrs.  Pitezel.     She  occupied  a   cell  in  the  same 

(m 


100    3IES.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

police  station  in  which  Holmes  was  detained,  and 
her  grief  and  surprise  over  her  arrest  and  incar- 
ceration were  so  great,  that  the  hearts  of  the 
officers  were  moved  to  pity. 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  in  this  interview, 
Mrs.  Pitezel  was  not  as  truthful  and  as  frank  as 
she  subsequently  became  with  the  authorities  in 
Philadelphia.  She  was  evidently  inspired  by  a 
desire  to  shield  her  husband,  whom  she  then  be- 
lieved to  be  alive,  notwithstanding  her  statement 
to  the  contrary.  Her  denial  of  her  complicity  in 
the  scheme  to  cheat  and  defraud  the  insurance 
company  by  the  substitution  of  a  body,  was  un- 
true. 

She  had  been  informed  of  the  scheme  from  its 
inception,  both  by  Holmes  and  her  husband,  and 
although  at  first  she  earnestly  and  sincerely  ad- 
vised against  it  and  pleaded  with  her  husband 
not  to  join  Holmes  in  such  a  nefarious  piece  of 
business,  she  ultimately  acquiesced  in  it,  and  was 
quite  prepared  for  the  disappearance  of  her  hus- 
band for  a  time,  in  accordance  with  an  under- 
standing between  them.  When  Howe  paid  to 
her,  her  share  of  the  money,  about  17200,  she  be- 
lieved the  plot  had  been  successfully  carried  out ; 
that  her  husband  was  alive,  and  would  ultimately 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIN.  101 

disclose  his  whereabouts  to  her  and  would,  when 
prudent,  return  to  his  home. 

This  much  may  be  said  for  her.  She  was  lead- 
ing a  miserable  existence  in  poverty,  with  a  large 
family  of  five  children.  She  was  in  ill  health,  and 
tied  by  marriage  to  a  crook,  a  man  whose  instincts 
were  low  and  criminal, — much  given  to  drinking 
alcoholic  stimulants  excessively,  and  who  had 
been  for  j^ears  a  close  associate  and  companion  of 
Holmes'.  Her  participation  in  the  crime,  how- 
ever, was  without  excuse,  and  she  was  properly 
apprehended  and  charged  with  conspiracy.  It 
was  her  plain  duty  to  have  prevented  the  con- 
summation of  the  scheme  at  all  hazard, — even  if  a 
bold  stand  for  truth  and  honor  had  caused  a  sep- 
aration from  her  husband. 

Her  punishment,  however,  has  been  severe, 
much  more  dreadful  than  any  that  could  have 
been  inflicted  by  the  law,  and  while  some  may 
condemn  her,  many  will  not  hesitate  to  pity  one, 
who  now  carries  with  her  such  a  weight  of  woe. 

Upon  being  questioned  by  the  officers,  she  an- 
swered as  follows : 

Q.     (By  Mr.  Hanscom.)    Where  is  your  home  ? 

A.     My  home  is  in  Galva,  111. 

Q.     Now  this  matter  about  the  death  of  your 


102   3IBS.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

husband  and  the  identification  of  the  body,  the 
collection  of  the  insurance,  etc.,  when  was  the 
matter  first  brought  to  your  attention? 

A.     Why,  I  saw  it  in  the  paper  first. 

Q.     You  saw  that  a  death  had  occurred? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     The  death  of  whom  ? 

A.     B.  F.  Perry. 

Q.  And  did  you  understand  at  the  time  that 
your  husband  was  living  in  Philadelphia  under 
the  name  of  Perry  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  know  what  street  and  number  he 
had  located  on  ? 

A.     No.  1316,  I  think,  Callowhill  Street. 

Q.  Before  the  time  that  you  got  this  news 
from  the  press  or  in  some  other  way,  had  you 
known  anything  about  this  scheme  ? 


A 

Q 

A 
Q 

you' 
A 

Q 

A 


No,  they  did  not  tell  me  anything  about  it. 
Nothing  had  been  said  to  you  about  it  ? 
No,  they  did  not  tell  me  anything  about  it. 
Have  you  one  of  your  daughters  here  with 

Yes,  sir. 

Is  she  the  eldest  daughter? 

Yes. 


THE    WAGES   OF  SIN.  103 

Q.  Is  she  the  one  that  went  to  identify  her 
father  ? 

A.     No,  slie  is  not  the  one. 

Q.  After  seeing  the  death  in  the  paper,  who 
was  the  first  to  speak  to  you  about  it'^ 

A.  Mr.  Becker  was  tlie  first  one  that  I  spoke  to. 
He  saw  tlie  account  in  the  paper,  of  course,  and  he 
was  our  groceryman  and  I  talked  to  liim  about  it. 

Q.     Where  were  you  living  then? 

A.     In  St.  Louis. 

Q.     What  street  and  number? 

A.     It  is  Carondelet;  it  is  a  part  of  St.  Louis. 

Q.     How  long  had  you  been  living  there? 

A.  Oh,  we  moved  there  in  May ;  about  the 
first  of  May.  Well^  maybe  it  was  the  middle  of 
May. 

Q.  Did  3Ir.  Holmes  come  to  your  Jiouse  soon 
after  the  annou7icem('nt  of  the  death  to  see  you  ? 

A.     J  think  it  was  a  week  after. 

Q.  Now  what  did  he  say  to  you  about  it  ?  He 
then  told  you  the  scheme,  did  he,  tliat  3'our  hus- 
band was  not  dead? 

A.  Why,  I  told  him  that  I  saw  something  in 
the  paper  in  regard  to  my  husband  and  I  wanted 
to  know  if  that  was  my  husband  and  if  it  was 
true,  and  he  said,  "  You  need  not  worry  about  it, 


104   3IES.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

there  is  no  use  in  worrying  about  that,"  and  he 
would  not  say  much  more  about  it.  He  went  and 
talked  with  the  children  and  only  stayed  a  little 
while  that  evening  and  went  away. 

Q.  Up  to  that  time  had  you  mourned  your 
husband  as  dead  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Did  you  believe  he  was  dead  ? 

A.     Yes,  I  believed  he  was  dead. 

Q.     Had  you  taken  any  steps  in  the  matter? 

A.  I  spoke  to  Mr.  Becker  and  he  went  down 
to  the  police,  and  then  there  had  been  one  or 
two  reporters  out. 

Q.     But  a  week  had  elapsed  ? 

A.  I  think  it  was  about  a  week,  I  won't  be 
positive  about  that. 

Q.     Had  you  sent  any  word  to  Philadelphia? 

A.     No,  I  had  not. 

Q.     Had  you  written  ? 

A.  No,  I  did  not  try  it,  I  did  not  know  what 
to  do. 

Q.     What  did  Mr.  Becker  tell  you  to  do  ? 

A.  He  thought  I  had  better  employ  an  attor- 
ney and  have  it  attended  to. 

Q.     Did  you  employ  an  attorney  ? 

A.     I  did  not  just  then,  not  right  that  day. 


THE    WAGES  OF  SIN.  105 

Q.  Did  you  make  any  arrangements  to  recover 
the  body  ? 

A.     No,  I  did  not. 

Q.  Had  you  received  a  telegram  or  any  word 
from  Holmes  before  he  called  upon  you  ? 

A.     No,  I  did  not. 

Q.  Had  it  been  talked  over  w^ith  you  that  such 
an  occurrence  might  take  place,  that  is,  that  your 
husband  might  absent  himself  and  let  the  report 
go  out  that  he  was  deacl?  Had  such  a  report 
ever  reached  you  ? 

A.     No,  not  up  to  this  time. 

Q.     Never  had  been  talked  over  with  you  ? 

A.     No. 

Q.  Had  you  no  intimation,  not  the  slightest 
sign  that  it  had  been  talked  over  ? 

A.  Not  before  that,  I  had  no  knowledge  of 
what  was  to  be  done. 

Q.  Had  you  any  money  by  you  at  the  time 
this  occurred  ? 

A.     No,  I  did  not  have  but  little. 

Q.     How  much  did  you  have  ? 

A.     Five  or  six  dollars,  I  think. 

Q.     He  had  not  sent  you  much  money  ? 

A.     No. 

Q.     Well,  on   this   first   visit  that  Holmes,  or 


106   3IBS.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

Howard,  whoever  he  is,  made  to  you,  did  he  tell 
you  before  lie  went  out  that  your  husband  was 
living,  that  you  need  not  worry  about  it? 

A.  Well,  he  spoke  to  that  effect,  I  don't  know 
as  those  were  the  exact  words. 

Q.  Did  he  ease  your  mind  regarding  the  death 
of  your  husband  befoi'e  he  went  away,  telling  you 
that  your  husband  was  not  dead? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  Did  he  go  into  tke  story  that  your  husband 
was  insured  ? 

A.     No,  he  did  not  go  into  the  story  then. 

Q.  Did  you  know  that  your  husband  had  an 
insurance  on  his  life  ? 

A.  I  knew  he  had  an  insurance  on  his  life, 
but  I  did  not  know  whether  it  was  all  paid  or  not. 
It  was  not  paid  up,  and  I  did  not  know  even 
when  I  heard  of  the  death,  whether  it  was  all 
paid  up. 

Q.  Did  you  know  the  amount  of  the  insur- 
ance ? 

A.     I  did  at  the  time  he  insured. 

Q.     How  much? 

A.     $10,000. 

Q.     Who  collected  that  money? 

A.     Mr.  Howe. 


777^    WAGES  OF  SIN.  107 

Q.     As  your  attornej  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     Did  he  turn  that  money  over  to  you? 

A.     Well,  most  of  it  was  turned  over  to  me. 

Q.      What  did  you  do  with  it  ? 

A.     Well,  Mr.  Howard  had  some  of  it. 

Q.  How  much  did  Mr.  Howard  have  of  the 
110,000? 

A.     I  don't  know  exactly  that. 

Q.  You  understood  they  paid  the  full  amount, 
110,000? 

A.     Yes, 

Q.  After  Mr.  Howe  had  made  the  payments 
then  you  turned  over  a  large  portion  of  that 
money?  This  is  not  an}^  effort  to  entrap  you. 
We  simply  want  to  get  at  the  facts. 

A.  Well,  I  understand  you,  and  am  trying  to 
give  you  the  facts  as  well  as  I  can. 

Q.  How  much  of  that  $10,000  did  you  turn 
over  to  Howard,  (Holmes)  ? 

A.  I  don't  know  as  I  can  tell  you  the  exact 
amount. 

Q.     Can  you  remember  ? 

A.     No,  I  can't. 

Q.     Was  it  17,000? 

A.     It  must  have  been  pretty  well  on  to  that. 


108    3IES.  riTEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

Q.     He  States  it  was  about  $7,000. 

A.     Well,  that  is  correct,  I  think. 

Q.  Did  you  turn  over  that  money  to  any  other 
person  than  him  ? 

A.  No,  no  person  only  what  the  attorney  and 
the  expenses  were,  that  was  all. 

Q.  How  much  did  that  amount  to,  the  attor- 
neys and  the  expenses?     Can  you  remember  that  ? 

A.  No,  I  can't.  They  made  out  a  memoran- 
dum of  it,  Mr.  Howe  did.  He  just  made  it  out, 
and  I  don't  know,  they  got  into  a  kind  of  fussing 
about  it,  and,  by  the  way,  they  did  not  give  me 
the  statement  of  it. 

Q.     You  did  not  get  that  ? 

A.     No,  I  have  no  statement  of  it  at  all. 

Q.  After  having  paid  the  expense  and  $7,000 
more  or  less  that  3^ou  gave  Howard,  what  portion 
of  the  $10,000  had  you  left  ? 

A.     Well,  I  guess  about  $500. 

Q.  You  had  really  about  $500  out  of  the 
whole  business? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  Do  you  know  how  much  of  it  your  hus- 
band had? 

A.  No,  that  is  something  I  can't  answer,  for  I 
don't  know. 


The  Poplar  Street  House,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

(  Wliere  Holmes  intended  to  murder  the  children.) 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIN.  Ill 

Q.     When  did  you  last  see  your  husband  ? 

A.  I  saw  him  last  the  9th  day  of  July,  and  I 
have  not  seen  him  since. 

Q.     The  9th  day  ? 

A.  It  was  either  tlie  8th  or  9th  of  July  that 
he  left  home  in  the  evening,  and  I  went  down  to 
the  Union  Depot  and  that  was  the  last. 

Q.     In  St.  Louis? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     Did  he  correspond  with  you  after  that  ? 

A.  Up  to  the  time  that  I  saw  it  in  the  paper 
he  did,  but  I  have  never  heard  from  him  since, 
only  just  what  Mr.  Howard  says,  that  is  all. 

Q.  Now,  what  has  Mr.  Howard  said  to  you 
about  the  whereabouts  of  your  husband  since  that 
time  ? 

A.  Well,  the  only  place  that  I  know  of  where 
he  has  been,  is  Montreal  and  Toronto. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  he  was  in  Mon- 
treal ? 

A.  I  don't  know  for  a  certainty,  I  could  not 
swear  only  as  I  have  heard  it. 

Q.     From  whom  ? 

A.     From  Mr.  Howard. 

Q.     That  he  was  in  Toronto  and  Montreal  ? 

A.     Yes. 
7 


112   MRS.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

Q.  Has  he  told  you  that  you  would  meet  him 
at  any  other  place  ? 

A.  He  said  I  might  see  him  at  Detroit,  or 
Toronto,  or  Burlington,  but  I  have  never  seen 
him. 

Q.  Then  you  had  hopes  when  you  went  to 
Burlington,  that  you  might  meet  him  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  And  failing  to  find  him  in  Burlington, 
where  did  you  expect  then  to  see  him  ? 

A.  Well,  I  don't  know.  I  gave  up  all  hopes 
of  seeing  him. 

Q.     He  has  kept  you  moving,  hasn't  he  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  I  wish  to  ask  you  one  question  direct.  Do 
you  believe  now  that  your  husband  is  alive  ? 

A.  Well,  there  must  be  something  in  it.  I  am 
sure  I  could  not  swear  to  it  for  I  don't  know  for  a 
fact  that  he  is  alive.  All  I  know  is,  what  you 
have  been  telling  me,  and  what  he  has  been  telling 
me,  and  that  is  all  I  know. 

Q.  But  he  has  kept  you  moving  from  point  to 
point ;  I  would  like  to  have  you  tell  it  in  your  own 
way. 

A.     Well,  I  have  been  moving  from  one  point 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIN.  113 

to  another.  I  have  been  just  heartbroken,  that  is 
all  there  is  about  it. 

Q.  Yes,  I  know,  we  are  sorry  for  you.  Can 
you  tell  me  the  points  in  the  order  of  them, 
how  you  have  been  moving  about  since  you  left 
home  ? 

A.  I  went  to  my  parents,  from  there  to 
Chicago,  from  Chicago  to  Detroit,  and  from  there 
to  Toronto,  from  there  to  Ogdensburg,  from  there 
to  Burlington. 

Q.     And  that  is  where  you  were  yesterday  ? 

A.     Yes,  Burlington. 

Q.  Have  you  had  confidence  in  Howard  all  the 
way  through,  that  he  would  finally  take  you  to 
your  husband  ? 

A.     Why,  I  thought  so. 

Q.     Has  your  confidence  ever  been  shaken  ? 

A.  Well,  sometimes  I  thought  maybe  he  was 
fooling  me  or  something. 

Q.  By  the  way,  did  you  have  a  cipher,  any- 
thing in  the  shape  of  a  cipher,  by  which  your 
husband  could  communicate  with  you  privately, 
any  system  of  communication,  numbers,  char- 
acters ? 

A.     Oh  no,  we  do  not  write  that  way. 

Q.     You  never  wrote  that  way  ? 


114  3IRS.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  TEE  POLICE. 

A.     No. 

Q.  Did  you  ever  expect  to  get  any  such  letter 
from  your  husband,  written  in  any  mysterious  way, 
ciphers  of  any  kind? 

A.     No. 

Q.  Did  Holmes  ever  read  to  you  at  any  time 
since  the  money  was  collected,  say  at  the  time  you 
were  in  Detroit,  did  he  ever  read  anything  to  you, 
purporting  to  be  a  letter  from  your  husband  writ- 
ten in  cipher,  did  you  receive  something  of  that 
kind? 

A.  Well,  I  think  he  did  have  something  of 
that  kind  that  was  written  in  that  way,  and  said 
it  was  from  him.     That  is  all  I  know. 

Q.     Was  it  in  any  envelope  ? 

A.     No,  I  guess  not. 

Q.     Did  you  see  the  paper  that  he  had  ? 

A.     Why,  it  was  just  a  small  piece  of  paper. 

Q.  He  read  something  to  you  from  that 
paper  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     Did  you  have  the  paper  in  your  hand  ? 

A.     No. 

Q.     What  did  it  say  ? 

A.  Why,  just  said  that  he  was  well  and  all 
right  and  I  need  not  be  worrying  all  the  time. 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIN.  115 

Q.  You  went  to  Detroit,  expecting  to  meet 
your  husband  there? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  When  he  read  that  letter  to  you,  do  you 
remember  where  you  were  then  ? 

A.     In  Toronto,  I  think. 

Q.  You  went  to  Detroit  and  from  Detroit  to 
Toronto  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  In  Detroit  did  you  expect  to  meet  your 
husband  there  ? 

A.  I  thought  I  would  see  him,  he  said  I 
would. 

Q.  How  many  of  the  children  had  you  with 
you  ?     Just  had  the  little  girl  and  the  babe  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Qo  And  the  other  three  children  were  with 
whom,  so  far  as  you  know  ? 

A.     They  were  at  Covington. 

Q.    With  whom  ? 

A.  I  don't  know  who  they  were  with.  I 
asked  him  the  name  and  he  simply  told  me  who 
they  were  with,  said  she  was  a  widow,  a  nice 
woman. 

Q.  Now,  how  long  ago  was  it  that  you  parted 
with  these  three  children  ? 


116  3fRS.  PITEHEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

A.  I  have  nut  seen  Alice  for  two  months,  and 
have  not  seen  the  others  for 

Q.     Alice  went  awa}-  first  ? 

A.     Yes  sir. 

Q.  She  went  to  identify  the  body  of  her 
father  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     And  you  have  not  seen  her  since  ? 

A.     No. 

Q.  In  whose  keeping  was  she,  into  whose 
charge  did  you  give  her  at  the  time  she  went  on 
to  view  the  body  ? 

A.     Mr.  Howe  took  her. 

Q.     Who  is  he  ? 

A.     He  is  the  lawyer,  the  attorney. 

Q.     That  was  acting  for  you  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     A  St.  Louis  man  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  know  where  his  office  is  in  St. 
Louis  ? 

A.     Well,  it  is  in  the  Commercial  Building. 

Q.     Into  his  keeping  you  placed  the  girl? 

A,  Yes,  they  wanted  me  to  go,  but  I  was  very 
.Mck  at  the  time. 

Q.     And  Alice  went  on  with  him? 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIX  Hi 

A.  Yes.  Well,  he  turned  Alice  over  to  Mr. 
Holmes  then,  and  he  brought  her  on  to  Coving- 
ton. 

Q.     Did  you  see  her  in  Covington  ? 

A.     No,  sir,  I  was  not  in  Covington  at  all. 

Q.     Have  you  some  friends  in  Covington  ? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.  You  have  not  seen  her  since  she  went  on 
to  view  the  body  ? 

A.     No,  sir,  I  have  not  seen  her  since. 

Q.  Into  whose  custody  did  you  place  the 
other  two  ? 

A.  He  took  the  other  two,  that  is,  Holmes, 
took  them  from  St.  Louis  to  Covington,  where 
Alice  was. 

Q.  You  don't  know  whether  they  actually 
went  to  Covington  or  not  ? 

A.     No,  I  am  just  telling  you. 

Q.  That  is  right.  What  was  his  reason  fur 
taking  them  ?     What  reason  did  he  give  ? 

A.  The  only  reason  was  he  said  he  would  take 
them  there  and  I  could  go  home  and  make  my 
parents  a  visit,  and  not  to  be  bothered  with  them, 
because  my  parents  were  getting  along  in  j^ears, 
and  he  would  take  the  children  and  then  I  could 
go  over  there  when  I  got  through  visiting. 


118  3IES.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

Q.     He  was  going  to  take  them  to  meet  Alice  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  And  that  they  would  all  be  stopping  M'ith 
some  widow  lady. 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     Did  he  give  the  name  ? 

A.     No,  sir,  I  told  you  he  did  not. 

Q.  Did  he  say  anything  about  that  they  were 
going  to  Covington  to  meet  their  father  ? 

A.     No,  sir,  he  did  not  say  that. 

Q.  Has  he  ever  told  you  since  then,  that  they 
were  with  the  father? 

A.     No  sir. 

Q.  Then  you  still  believe  that  they  are  in 
Covington  ? 

A.  No,  sir,  he  told  me  he  took  them  to  To- 
ronto, that  is  all  I  know  about  it.  I  don't  know 
where  they  are.  All  I  know  is  that  he  said  he 
would  take  them  from  Covington  to  Toronto. 

Q.  You  understood  from  him  that  they  are 
there  ? 

A.     At  Toronto. 

Q.  With  friends  of  his,  or  whom  do  you  be- 
lieve them  to  be  with,  your  husband  ? 

A.  No,  he  said  he  would  give  them  to  some 
friends  there.     I  don't  know  whether  he  has. 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIN.  119 

Q.  We  believe  this  man  to  be  a  very  bad  man, 
and  we  want  to  get  at  all  the  truth. 

A.  Well,  that  is  as  far  as  I  know.  I  can't 
tell  you  anything  more,  because  I  don't  know. 

Q.  You  did  not  understand  then  that  these 
children  were  going  to  join  their  father? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.  Has  he  ever  told  you  about  dressing  one  of 
the  girls  in  boy's  clothing  ? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.     He  never  told  you  about  those  things? 

A.     Well,  I  have  one  boy. 

Q.     There  is  a  boy  and  two  girls  ? 

A.     Whoever  told  you  that  ? 

Q.  We  have  been  talking  with  him.  We  are 
not  doing  anything  to  undertake  to  make  you  feel 
bad,  we  are  trying  to  get  at  the  matter  and  sift  it. 
He  has  kept  you  moving  about  the  country  from 
point  to  point,  and  you  look  as  tliough  you  had 
been  through  a  good  deal  and  we  want  to  get  all 
the  light  we  can.  We  don't  believe  in  this  man 
very  much.  That  is  why  we  are  asking  you  these 
questions. 

A.     Do  you  know  where  the  children  are  ? 

Q.  No,  that  is  one  of  the  things  we  want  to 
find  out.    We  want  to  find  them  as  much  for  your 


i20  iMHs.  pitezeL  quEsrtoMt)  bT  the  PottcE. 

sake,  as  well  as  for  any  other  reason  in  the  world. 
In  fact,  we  may  say  that  all  these  questions  that 
are  being  asked  you  now  regarding  these  children 
are  in  your  behalf.  Holmes  is  locked  up  in  this 
very  building,  and  we  have  been  talking  with  him. 

A.  /  thought  maybe  I  ivould  see  the  children 
here. 

Q.  Holmes  is  locked  up,  you  knew  that,  didn't 
you? 

A.     I  didn't  know  it  until  I  came  up  here. 

Q.  He  has  not  given  you  to  understand  that 
the  children  were  with  their  father  ? 

A.     No. 

Q.  Is  there  anything  else  that  you  can  think 
of  that  he  has  said  about  the  whereabouts  of  the 
children  ? 

A.     That  is  the  last  that  I  know  about  it. 

Q.  You  have  met  him  a  number  of  times  at 
these  different  points  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.     He  has  kept  you  moving  on  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  Have  you  heard  from 
Alice  since  she  has  been  away  ? 

A.  I  have  not  heard  from  her  from  Covington 
since  I  was  home. 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIK  liJl 

Q.  Have  you  received  a  letter  from  her  from 
Covington  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Had  she  written  it  herself  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  she  and  Nellie  had  written  it 
themselves. 

Q.     Did  you  keep  the  letter  ? 

A.     No,  I  did  not  keep  the  letter. 

Q.     Do  you  remember  what  they  said  ? 

A.  Well,  they  said  they  were  well  and  the 
woman  was  real  good  to  them,  said  she  was  an 
awful  kind  lady,  that  they  would  like  to  see 
mama,  and  wanted  to  know  how  the  baby  was,  if 
it  could  talk  yet  and  how  grandma  and  grandpa 
were  and  they  hoped  they  would  see  mama  soon. 
I  think  that  is  about  the  extent  of  it. 

Q.     That  was  sent  where,  to  Galva  ? 

A.     Yes. 

Q.  Did  you  receive  any  letters  from  them  from 
any  other  point  except  Covington  ? 

A.     No,  I  think  not. 

Q.     Did  you  get  any  from  them  from  Toronto? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.  The  only  correspondence  you  had  from 
them  was  in  Covington  ? 

A."    Yes,  sir. 


122   MRS.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

Q.  And  that  was  during  the  time  you  were  in 
Galva  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Did  you  ever  write  to  your  children  ? 

A.     Wh}',  certainly. 

Q.     How  often  ? 

A.  Well,  I  wrote  them  several  letters  while  I 
was  home  in  Galva. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Hanscom.)  But  you  only  heard 
from  them  once  ? 

A.     Well,  I  think  I  got  two  letters. 

Q.  (By  Mr.  Cornish.)  How  did  you  direct  your 
letters  ? 

A.     Directed  them  to  Alice  Pitezel,  Covington, 

Ky. 

Q.     Did  you  mail  it  yourself? 

A.     My  father  mailed  it. 

Q.  Have  you  written  to  them  since  at  Coving- 
ton or  Toronto  ? 

A.     Why,  yes,  I  have  sent  them  several  letters. 

Q.  Who  did  you  send  them  by,  mail  them 
yourself  ? 

A.     No,  I  did  not  mail  them  myself. 

Q.     Who  mailed  them  ? 

A.  Holmes  mailed  them,  I  suppose.  I  had 
given  them  to  him  to  mail. 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIN.  123 

Q.  Did  you  write  to  your  father  and  mother  at 
Galva  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Did  you  mail  any  of  them  ? 

A.     I  mailed  one  from  Chicago. 

Q.  Have  you  written  to  them  since  ?  When 
you  were  in  Toronto  and  Detroit  and  those  other 
places  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Did  you  mail  those  ? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.     Who  did? 

A.     I  gave  them  to  Mr.  Holmes  to  mail. 

Q.  Who  suggested  that  you  should  employ  Jeptha 
D.  Howe  as  counsel? 

A.     Mr.  Howard.     {Holmes). 

Q.  The  first  time  that  he  called  upon  you  in 
St.  Louis  did  he  suggest  that  you  employ  Mr. 
Howe? 

A.     No,  not  that  night. 

Q.     The  next  day  ? 

A.  I  don't  remember  that  I  saw  him  the  next 
day,  I  think  it  was  two  days  after  that. 

Q.  Then  he  suggested  that  you  should  employ 
Mr.  Howe  ? 


124  3IRS.  FITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

A.  Yes,  I  think  it  was  a  couple  of  days,  I  can't 
give  it  exactly. 

Q.  You  went  by  the  name  of  Adams  in  Detroit, 
Toronto  and  Ogdenshurg  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     And  by  the  name  of  Cook  in  Burlington 

A.     Yes,  that  is  right. 

Q.  Did  Mr.  Holmes  tell  you  to  use  those 
names  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     Where  were  you  stopping  in  Burlington? 

A.     Winooski  Avenue,  No.  26,  I  think. 

Q.  How  many  times  did  you  see  Holmes  in 
Burlington? 

A.  Well,  that  is  kind  of  a  hard  question  to 
answer,  I  don't  remember,  four  or  five  times. 

Q.     Did  he  call  at  the  house  ? 

A.  Yes  sir,  but  he  never  stayed  any  length  of 
time. 

Q.     Did  he  give  you  any  money  there  ? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.  Did  you  receive  a  package  from  him  last 
Saturday  by  express  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     What  did  that  contain  ? 

A.     It  contained  two  tickets,  railroad  tickets. 


THE  WAGES  OF  SIN.  125 

Q.     And  a  letter  ? 

A.     A  short  letter  in  it. 

Q,     What  did  the  letter  contain  ? 

A.  Just  for  me  to  pick  up  my  things  and  come 
to  Lowell  Sunday  night,  and  then  Sunday  morn- 
ing this  Mr.  Lane  came  and  gave  me  another  let- 
ter from  him,  that  just  stated  for  me  to  come 
straight  on  to  Boston,  that  he  would  see  me 
through. 

Q.  You  have  told  all  you  know  about  this 
matter  ? 

A.  Yes,  I  have  told  about  all  I  can  remember, 
it  is  mixed  up  anyway. 

Q.  Did  you  make  an}'  attempt  to  find  the  chil- 
dren there  in  Toronto  ? 

A.     They  were  not  there  when  I  was  there. 

Q.  After  you  had  left,  lie  told  you  that  tliey 
were  there  ? 

A.  That  was  when  I  was  in  Burlington,  he 
said  tliey  were  there. 

Q.  That  was  the  first  that  you  knew  of  the 
children  being  in  Toronto  ? 

A.  That  was  the  first  I  knew  that  they  were 
there,  and  this  letter  came  for  me  to  come  on  down 
here,  and,  of  course,  that  ended  it. 

Q.     How  did  he  explair    .o  yon  tliat  the  chil- 


126  3IRS.  PITEZEL  QUESTIONED  BY  THE  POLICE. 

dren  had  left  Covington  for  Toronto  ?  Why  did 
he  change  their  location  ? 

A.  Well,  he  said  he  thought  it  would  be  bet- 
ter to  have  them  up  there,  and  I  could  go  and  see 
them  there,  that  they  would  be  closer  to  me.  I 
thought,  of  course,  I  should  go  there  to  see  them. 

Q.  Where  were  you,  when  he  told  that  they 
were  in  Toronto  ? 

A.     I  was  in  Burlington.     It  is  just  lately. 

Q.  He  did  not  tell  you  where  they  were  in 
Toronto  ? 

A.     No,  sir. 

Q.  Whether  they  were  in  school  or  at  a  pri- 
vate house  ? 

A.  No,  sir,  I  could  not  find  them  if  it  was  a 
case  of  life  and  death. 

Q.  When  your  husband  went  away  from  St. 
Louis,  did  he  tell  you  that  he  was  going  to  Phila- 
delphia or  Chicago  ? 

A.  He  went  to  Chicago.  He  told  me  that  he 
was  going  there  to  dispose  of  some  lumber.  He 
did  not  say  he  was  going  to  Philadelphia  when 
he  went  away. 

Q.  And  then  you  heard  from  him  in  Chicago 
that  he  was  going  to  Philadelphia  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 


THE  WAGES  OF  SIN,  129 

Q,  That  was  under  the  name  of  Pitezel  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Did  he  tell  you  in   that  letter  from   Chi- 
cago, that  he  was  going  by  the  name  of  Perry  ? 
A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  In  the  letter'after  that  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

On  Monday,  November  19,  1894,  Thomas 
Crawford,  one  of  the  detectives  of  the  Bureau  of 
Police  of  Philadelphia  arrived  in  Boston,  with 
warrants  for  the  arrest  of  Holmes  and  Mrs.  Pite- 
zel, both  of  whom,  however,  consented  to  go  to 
Philadelphia  without  the  formality  of  a  requisi- 
tion from  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
party  consisted  of  Detective  Crawford,  Inspector 
Perry  of  the  Insurance  company,  H.  H.  Holmes, 
Miss  Yoke,  whom  he  had  married  under  the  name 
of  Howard,  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  her  infant  and 
Dessie  Pitezel.  On  the  journey,  Holmes  reiter- 
ated his  statement  that  Pitezel  was  alive,  and  in 
South  America,  and  that  the  children  w^ere  with 
him.  That  he  had  given  Pitezel  $1,600  and  had 
sewed  $400  in  Alice's  dress  or  chemise.  He  said 
he  left  Alice  in  Indianapolis,  (after  taking  her  to 
Philadelphia)  and  then  got  the  other  two  children 
and  bronght  them  to  her.  He  then  took  them  all 
8 


130    THE  PRISONERS  TAKEN  TO  PHILADELPHIA. 

to  Detroit,  where  they  met  Pitezel,  and  then  the  lat- 
ter and  the  three  children  sailed  for  South 
America.  He  said  he  and  Pitezel  were  to  keep 
track  of  each  other  through  the  personal  column 
of  the  New  York  Herald. 

He  said  to  Dessie  Pitezel :  "  Don't  worry  Des- 
sie,  you  and  your  father  will  meet  before  long,  and 
you  will  see  your  sisters  and  3^our  brother."  He 
told  her  she  might  expect  to  see  her  father  in 
Philadelphia.  He  reiterated  to  Crawford  his 
story  of  the  manner  in  which  the  corpse  had  been 
obtained  in  New  York,  and  laughed  at  the  bun- 
gling manner  in  which  Pitezel  had  left  tlie  body  ; 
that  he  had  particularly  instructed  Pitezel  how  to 
place  the  body,  to  put  the  chloroform  in  its  mouth 
and  to  press  the  sides,  so  as  to  work  it  down  the 
throat ;  that  Pitezel  had  left  the  body  with  its 
hand  across  the  breast,  looking  as  if  it  had  died  a 
peaceful  death,  whereas  the  man  was  supposed  to 
have  died  a  horrible  death.  He  said  he  instructed 
Pitezel  how  to  fix  the  bottle  and  the  pipe,  so  as  to 
have  it  appear  as  if  in  lighting  the  pipe  the  ben- 
zine had  exploded  and  killed  the  man.  On  the 
train  Holmes  asked  Crawford,  if  he  believed  in 
hypnotism.  Crawford  said  "  No."  He  said  he 
could  hypnotize  people  very  easily,  and  wanted  to 


THE   WAGES  OF  SIN.  131 

try  his  powers  on  Crawford,  but  the  invitation 
was  declined.  The  sort  of  hypnotism  Holmes 
was  most  proficient  in  was  best  exhibited  when  he 
offered  to  give  Crawford  |500  dollars  for  a  pur- 
pose not  stated,  but  quite  well  understood.  That 
bait  was  also  declined. 

On  Tuesday,  November  20th,  1894,  the  party 
arrived  at  the  Central  Station,  City  Hall,  Phila- 
delphia. Holmes  and  Mrs.  Pitezel  were  given  a 
hearing  and  were  at  once  committed  to  prison  to 
await  trial.  Dessie  Pitezel  and  the  baby,  were 
placed  in  the  kind  care  of  Benjamin  Crew,  Esq., 
Secretary  of  the  Society  to  Protect  Children 
from  Cruelty.  Within  the  next  few  days,  Jeptha 
D.  Howe  was  brought  on  from  St.  Louis,  on  the 
charge  of  conspiracy  and  was  held  in  $2,500  bail 
to  answer  at  court.  In  due  time  the  case  reached 
the  office  of  George  S.  Graham,  Esq.,  District  At- 
torney. In  this  office  an  indictment  was  pre- 
pared, charging  H.  H.  Holmes,  Benjamin  F.  Pite- 
zel, Carrie  A.  Pitezel,  and  Jeptha  D.  Howe  with 
having  fraudulently  and  wilfully  conspired  to 
cheat  and  defraud  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life 
Association,  out  of  the  sum  of  110,000  dollars, 
by  means  of  the  substitution  of  a  body  for 
that    of  Benjamin    F.  Pitezel.     This  indictment 


132  INDICTED  BY  THE  GRAND  JURY. 

Wits  formally  presented  to  the  Grand  Jury  and  a 
true  bill  was  found,  and  tlie  matter  rested  in 
that  shape  until  Holmes  created  another  sensa- 
tion  by    making  a  second  so-called  confession. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IN  THE  TOILS. 

The  Insurance  Company  Not  Idle — Efiforts  to  Locate  Pitezel— 
Holmes  in  His  Cell — The  Arch-Scoundrel  Changes  Hie 
Base — Sends  for  the  Superintendent  of  Police — Admits 
Lying — Pitezel  Dead  and  the  Children  in  London — Holmes' 
Second  Confession  in  Detail — Efforts  to  Verify  or  Disprove 
It — The  Children  Still  Missing — Groping  in  the  Dark — 
Thomas  W.  Barlow,  Esq.,  Retained  for  the  Insurance  Com- 
pany— A  new  Indictment — The  Trial — Holmes  Happy — 
Sentence  Deferred. 

Between  the  arrest  of  these  parties  and  their 
indictment,  the  officers  of  the  Insurance  Company 
were  not  idle.  Mrs.  Pitezel  soon  learned  the 
wisd(nn  of  sincerity  and  truthfulness,  and  became 
communicative,  and  day  by  day  the  history  of  the 
crime  was  laid  bare.  Every  effort  was  made  to 
locate  Pitezel  and  to  find  the  children,  and  no  ex- 
pense was  spared  in  running  out  all  sorts  of  clues. 
While  this  was  going  on,  Holmes  was  occupying 
his  solitary  cell  in  the  county  prison.  He  had 
been  for  years  a  very  busy  man  and  never  before 
had  such  an  opportunity  for  reflection  and  self-ex- 
amination.    As  time  passed,  the  probability  that 

C133) 


134  SENDS  FOR  THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  POLICE. 

Pitezel  was  not  only  not  alive,  but  had  been  mur- 
dered at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  pressed  itself 
upon  the  officers  of  the  Company,  and  the  District 
Attorney  as  well,  and  this  impression  soon  found 
its  way  to  Holmes  in  his  prison  cell.  He  now  dis- 
covered that  a  change  of  base  was  necessary.  He 
remembered  a  conversation  that  had  taken  place 
between  him  and  Inspector  Perry,  after  his  arrival 
in  Philadelphia.  In  this  interview,  Mr.  Perry 
a-ked  him  this  question :  Who  helped  you  to 
double  up  the  body  in  New  York  City  and  put  it 
in  a  trunk?  Holmes  said:  "I  did  it  alone.  It 
is  a  trick  I  learned  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  while 
studying  medicine  there." 

Mr.  Perry  knew  that  when  the  body  which  had 
been  found  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  was  re- 
moved to  the  morgue,  it  was  straight  and  rigid 
and  two  men  had  carried  it,  one  at  the  head  and 
the  other  at  the  feet, — so  another  question  was 
asked  Holmes :  "  Can  you  tell  me  where  I  can 
find  a  medical  man  or  a  medical  authority,  which 
will  instruct  me  how  to  re-stiffen  a  body  after 
rigor  mortis  has  once  been  broken  ? "  To  this 
inquiry.  Holmes  made  no  answer. 

On  December  27th,  1894,  Holmes  sent  for  R. 
J.  Linden,  Esq.,  Superintendent  of  Police  of  the 


IN  THE   TOILS.  135 

Department  of  Public  Safety  of  Philadelphia.  He 
told  the  superintendent  that  he  was  very  sorry 
he  had  been  so  untruthful  in  his  former  state- 
ments, when  he  had  declared  that  Pitezel  was 
alive,  and  was  in  South  America,  and  that  the 
children  were  with  him.  He  said  he  was  now  pre- 
pared to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  noth- 
ing but  the  truth  ;  that  Pitezel  was  not  alive,  but 
dead,  and  that  it  was  really  Pitezel's  body  which 
had  been  identified  in  the  Potters  Field;  that  the 
children  were  not  with  their  father,  but  with  Miss 
Williams,  who  had  taken  them  to  London,  where 
they  could  easily  be  found.  He  then  dictated  to 
a  stenographer,  the  following  statement,  which  is 
called  by  the  police.  Confession  No.  2. 

Statement. 

I  contemplated  defrauding  the  insurance  com- 
pany in  August  or  September,  1893,  in  connection 
with  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  No  one  else  was  in  the 
plot  until  July,  1894.  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  then  in- 
formed of  it  by  Pitezel.  About  August  1st,  on 
my  release  from  jail  in  St.  Louis,  I  outlined  the 
conspiracy  to  Howe  and  showed  him  how  L  in- 
tended raising  money  to  liberate  Hedgepeth  from 
jail,  I  having  told  Hedgepeth  of  it  while  in  jail 


136  HOLMES'  SECOND  CONFESSION. 

and  agreed  to  raise  $300  to  help  him  out.  Howe 
at  that  time  had  no  idea  of  joining  in  the  con- 
spiracy. I  went  from  St.  Louis  to  Chicago  to 
raise  some  money  there,  and  went  to  New  York 
where  I  got  $600  from  Minnie  Williams.  I  then 
arranged  with  Pitezel  that  he  should  provide  a  re- 
treat to  stop  at  after  the  conspiracy  was  consum- 
mated and  also  to  get  his  teeth  altered.  Leav- 
ing him  in  New  York,  I  came  to  Philadelphia  to 
look  for  a  house.  I  took  part  of  No.  1905  I'iorth 
lltii  Street.  Three  days  later  Pitezel  caiue  and 
took  the  house  No.  1316  Callowhill  Stree^*.,  which 
he  furnished  partially  with  chemicals  and  bottles 
to  represent  a  patent  dealer.  1  visited  this  house 
I  think  four  times  besides  the  day  on  which  he 
died.  I  visited  the  house  about  the  last  of  August 
and  stayed  five  or  six  hours.  At  that  time  Pite- 
zel was  despondent.  I  found  he  had  been  drink- 
ing and  took  him  to  task  for  it.  He  remarked 
tliat  he  guessed  he  had  better  drink  enough  to  kill 
him  and  have  done  with  it.  He  borrowed  %\b  from 
me  and  I  left  about  4  o'clock.  To  the  best  of  my 
knowledge  I  next  saw  him  on  the  following  Sat- 
urday, September  1st,  at  the  Mercantile  Library, 
and  quite  late  that  evening  he  came  to  my  house 
on  North  11th   Street  and  said  he  had  received  a 


TX  THE   TOILS.  137 

telegram  that  his  baby  was  sick  and  he  had  to  go 
home.  I  said  we  had  better  arrange  how  his  busi- 
ness should  be  run  and  he  told  me  he  could  get  a 
party  to  come  to  the  place.  I  raised  no  objection 
to  his  going.  When  we  got  the  arrangements  all 
made  he  said :  "  You  will  have  to  let  me  have 
some  money  to  go  with." 

I  asked  him  where  the  $150  were  that  he  told 
me  he  had  a  few  days  ago.  He  said  :  "  Well  I 
haven't  got  it."  T  could  not  give  him  any  at  that 
time.  This  was  about  9  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
I  promised  to  go  down  in  the  morning,  but  before 
leaving  we  arranged  that  I  should  go  in  his  place 
and  take  care  of  the  sick  baby  and  start  the  body 
there.  The  next  morning,  Sunday,  about  10:30, 1 
went  to  his  house.  I  had  been  provided  with  a 
key  to  go  in  with.  I  found  no  one  there  either  on 
the  first  or  the  second  floor,  where  his  slee[)ing 
apartment  was.  He  had  a  cot  there  which  I  do 
not  think  he  ever  made  up.  I  went  over  to  the 
Mercantile  Library  and  stayed  there  about  an 
hour,  and  then  went  up  on  Broad  Street  where  I 
had  a  private  mail  box,  but  did  not  get  any  mail, 
bought  a  morning  paper  and  went  back  to  the 
Callowhill  Street  house.  I  found  no  one  there  and 
knew  that  no  one  had  been   there  while  I  was 


138  HOLMES'  SECOND  CONFESSION. 

away.  T  went  upstairs  and  laid  down  on  the  cot 
and  read  the  paper.  It  was  probably  about  12 
o'clock  when  I  got  back.  After  reading  the  paper  for 
about  a  half  hour,  I  went  to  his  desk  to  write  some 
letters,  and  found  there  a  scrap  of  paper  with  a 
figure  cipher  on  it  that  we  used,  and  it  said  : 
"  Get  letter  out  bottle  in  cupboard."  I  kept  that 
piece  of  paper  until  in  Toronto,  where  I  used  it  in 
sending  a  cipher  to  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  tried  to 
imitate  his  figures.  I  got  the  letter  and  it  told 
me  that  he  was  going  to  get  out  of  it,  and  that  I 
should  find  him  upstairs,  if  he  could  manage  to 
kill  himself.  I  went  upstairs  and  looked  in  the 
clothes  press  on  the  second  floor,  which  was  the 
only  place  I  had  not  been  on  that  floor.  Not  find- 
ing him  there  I  ran  up  to  the  third  story,  opened 
the  door,  and  saw  him  lying  on  the  fioor  appar- 
ently dead.  I  felt  his  pulse  and  laid  my  hand  on 
his  and  found  it  was  cold.  His  eyes  were  partially 
closed.  I  then  had  to  leave  the  room  on  account 
of  the  fumes  of  chloroform  being  so  strong.  I 
went  and  opened  the  window  in  the  other  room 
and  came  back  and  started  to  go  in  again,  but  had 
to  give  it  up,  and  went  to  the  second  floor  again. 
As  soon  as  I  could,  I  did  go  in  again  and  found 
that  he  was  lying  on  his  back  with  his  left  hand 


IN  TEE  TOILS.  139 

folded  over  his  abdomen  and  his  right  hand  lying  at 
his  side.  I  did  not  keep  the  letter  which  was  in 
the  bottle,  but  destroyed  it  with  other  papers  the 
next  day  on  the  train  going  from  Philadelphia  to 
St.  Louis.  I  removed  the  furniture  from  the  third 
story  room  and  took  it  to  the  second  storj^  leaving 
the  body  until  the  last.  Then  I  brought  the  body 
down  into  the  second  story,  and  arranged  it  in 
the  way  it  was  found.  This  was  about  3  o'clock. 
I  had  arranged  with  Pitezel,  that  when  he  should 
place  the  substitute  body,  a  bottle  should  be 
broken  which  it  was  supposed  that  he  had  in  his 
hand  when  the  explosion  occurred,  and  that  the 
fragments  should  be  scattered  around  the  room. 
I  held  the  bottle  up  and  broke  it  with  a  blow  of 
the  hammer  upon  the  side.  That  bottle  con- 
tained benzine,  chloroform  and  ammonia,  which 
was  to  be  used  for  burning  the  floor  to  indicate  that 
an  explosion  had  occurred.  I  took  some  of  this 
fluid  and  put  it  upon  his  right  hand  and  side,  and 
on  the  right  side  of  his  face  and  set  fire  to  it.  I 
then  arranged  the  articles  that  he  had  taken  from 
his  pocket  putting  them  back  again,  and  hung  his 
vest  in  the  second  story  bedroom,  and  the  coat  in 
the  first  story  where  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
keeping  it.     I  gathered  together  the  rubber  tube, 


140  HOLMES'   SECOND   CONFESSION. 

towel,  and  a  bottle  of  chloroform  and  left  the 
house  as  soon  as  I  could,  about  a  quarter  of  four. 
I  then  went  to  Broad  Street  station  and  found 
that  the  train  for  the  west  would  leave  in  thirty 
minutes,  and  another  at  10:25  P.  M.  I  went  im- 
mediately to  No.  1905  North  llth  Street  and 
packed  my  things,  and  started  for  St.  Louis  that 
night.  I  found  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Pitezel  in  liis 
clothing,  which  I  took  with  me  and  put  with  the 
other  papers  in  my  inside  vest  pocket.  I  think  I 
threw  away  the  key  to  the  house,  which  I  had  and 
put  back  the  regular  key  where  lie  usually  kept  it, 
and  instead  of  locking  the  door,  I  left  it  open  a 
few  inches.  I  got  to  my  house  about  5  o'clock. 
M}^  wife  was  not  well,  and  I  went  to  work  and 
straightened  things  and  got  the  packing  done 
before  it  was  dark.  When  I  found  the  body,  the 
pockets  of  the  pants  were  turned  out,  and  his 
knife  and  the  key  of  the  house  were  lying  on  a 
chair.  Up  to  this  time,  Howe  was  in  the  con- 
spiracy. The  following  Wednesday  night  I  got 
to  St.  Louis,  and  on  that  day  I  had  seen  in  a  St. 
Louis  paper,  a  report  that  the  body  had  been 
found.  I  went  immediately  to  Howe's  office, 
having  made  up  my  mind,  that  as  he  knew  of  it,  I 
had  better  let  him  settle  up  the  insurance.     He 


JN  THE  TOILS.  141 

was  not  there.  I  went  to  Mrs.  Pitezel's  and 
found  that  they  had  also  seen  the  report.  The 
children  were  greatly  worried,  but  Mrs.  Pitezel 
was  not,  as  she  believed  that  the  scheme  had 
been  carried  out.  We  talked  the  matter  over  a 
couple  of  hours,  and  I  came  back  that  night  and 
saw  Howe  and  explained  what  had  been  done,  not 
telling  him  that  it  was  Pitezel,  but  leaving  him  to 
believe  that  the  plan  of  placing  a  substitute  had 
been  carried  out,  and  retained  him  on  behalf  of 
Mrs.  Pitezel  to  procure  the  money  from  the  Com- 
pany, He  suggested  that  she  have  some  of  her 
neighbors  write  first,  inasmuch  as  it  would  not 
look  well  for  her  to  immediately  run  off  and  get 
a  lawyer ;  this  was  done.  At  the  time  of  the  dis- 
covery of  the  body,  a  towel  was  over  his  face. 
The  tube  was  fastened  to  the  bottle  by  a  cork  with 
a  quill ;  then  he  had  tied  around  a  string  to  keep 
the  chloroform  from  running  too  fast.  I  think  the 
rubber  tube  was  four  or  five  feet  long.  I  took  the 
tube  with  me.  His  wife  asked  me  what  that  was 
for.  I  think  I  took  the  cork  and  quill  out  of  the 
house  also. 

(In  answer  to  questions)  :     It  did  not  occur  to 
me  when  I  found  that  Pitezel  was  drinking,  to 


142  A  NEW  INDICT3IENT. 

give  him  a  little  chloroform.  I  had  nothing  to  do 
with  his  taking  the  chloroform. 

This  statement  Holmes  reiterated  to  the  officers 
of  the  company  and  efforts  to  verify  or  disprove 
it  were  renewed  with  vigor.  January,  February, 
March  and  April  of  1895,  came  and  went,  and  yet 
the  most  earnest  work  failed  to  discover  the  chil- 
dren, or  obtain  any  clue  of  them,  after  tliey  had 
disappeared  from  Toronto  on  October  25th,  1894, 
to  which  place  they  had  been  traced.  Furtlier- 
raore  if  it  was  Pitezel's  body  that  was  found  in 
the  Callowhill  Street  house,  there  was  no  substi- 
tution, and  an  indictment  charging  the  conspira- 
tors with  having  substituted  a  body,  would  not 
meet  the  case. 

At  this  juncture,  the  officers  of  the  Company, 
under  the  advice  of  District  Attorney''  Graham, 
retained  Thomas  W.  Barlow,  Esq.,  a  member  of 
the  Philadelphia  bar.  The  District  Attorney  had 
associated  Mr.  Barlow  with  him  in  many  cases  in 
previous  3'ears,  and  they  were  in  thorough  accord. 
A  brief  of  all  the  facts  of  the  case  was  carefully 
prepared  and  eventually  a  new  indictment  was 
found,  charging  H.  H.  Holmes,  Marion  C.  Hedge- 
peth,  and  Jeptha  D.  Howe,  with  having  conspired 
to  cheat  the  Insurance  Company,  by  alleging  that 


IN  THE  TOILS.  143 

one  B.  F.  Pitezel,  who  had  been  insured  in  said 
company  had  died  as  the  result  of  an  accident. 
This  indictment  was  ingeniously  constructed  to 
meet  the  facts  of  the  case,  within  the  grasp  of  the 
Commonwealtli.  If  a  body  had  been  substituted 
and  Pitezel  was  alive,  it  was  good  ;  if  the  body 
found  was  really  Pitezel's  and  he  was  dead  and 
had  committed  suicide,  it  was  equally  good,  as  a 
clause  in  the  policy  made  it  null  and  void,  in  case 
of  self  destruction.  It  was  then  determined  to 
hold  any  further  investigation  of  the  case  in  abey- 
ance, until  a  trial  should  be  had  under  this  new 
bill,  the  prisoner  convicted,  and  remanded  to 
prison  to  await  sentence. 

On  June  3d,  1895,  the  prisoner  was  called  for 
trial  on  the  new  bill.  He  was  defended  by  able 
counsel,  who  presented  a  bold  front  on  behalf  of 
their  client  on  the  first  day  of  the  trial.  On  the 
second  day  they  weakened  and  advised  their  cli- 
ent to  plead  guilty.  This  he  did  with  alacrity,  as 
he  thought  the  end  of  his  troubles  was  in  sight. 
He  was  informed  by  his  counsel,  that  the  maxi- 
mum term  of  imprisonment  in  Pennsylvania  for 
conspiracy,  was  two  years,  and  if  he  pleaded 
guilty  he  might  possibly  get  less.  The  prisoner 
hastened  to  take  advantage  of  such  a  comfortable 


144  THE    TRIAL. 

means  of  retreat.  He  really  looked  happy  when 
the  Judge  said  he  would  not  sentence  him  then, 
but  would  consider  his  case  at  a  later  day. 

In  the  Court  Room  closely  observing  the  pris- 
oner, was  Detective  Frank  P.  Geyer,  of  the 
Bureau  of  Police  of  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Geyer 
had  been  requested  to  be  present  by  the  District 
Attorney  and  Mr.  Barlow.  A  few  days  later,  Mr. 
Barlow  was  made  Special  Assistant  District  Attor- 
ney, and  the  great  work  of  uncovering  one  of  the 
greatest  criminals  of  modern  times  immediately 
commenced. 


CHAPTER  Vir. 

"  A   SLIPPERY   AND   SUBTLE   KMAVE." 

Holmes'  Interview  with  the  District  Attorney — The  Human- 
ity of  Justice — Holmes  Urged  to  Produce  the  Pitezel 
Children — His  Apparent  Candor — Disposition  of  the  Chil- 
dren— Four  Hundred  Dollars  Pinned  in  Alice's  Dress — 
Nellie  Disguised  as  a  Boy — The  Loudon  Address — Holmes 
and  Miss  Williams  Agree  upon  a  Cipher — The  New  York 
Sunday  Herald — Correspondence  with  Scotland  Yard. 

Holmes  was  removed  from  the  couit  room  to 
an  apartment  in  the  City  Hall,  designated  as  the 
cell  room,  where  prisoners  are  detained  after  trial, 
or  while  waiting  their  conve3ance  to  the  county 
prison.  As  Holmes  sat  cheerfully  chatting  with 
one  of  his  counsel,  a  message  reached  them  from 
the  District  Attorney,  requesting  a  conference  at 
once,  touching  the  whereabouts  of  the  children. 
This  meeting  took  i)lace  in  ]\Ir.  Graham's  (>ffice. 
In  the  middle  of  the  office  was  a  long  table. 
Holmes  and  his  counsel  sat  on  one  side  of  this 
table,  and  Mr.  Graham  and  Mr.  Barlow  on  the 
other.  The  District  Attorney  opened  the  confer- 
ence by  informing  Holmes,  that  the  cfficers  of  the 

(145) 


146  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

Commonwealth  were  very  anxious  to  find  the 
Pitezel  children  and  restore  them  to  their  mother ; 
that  he  had  decided  to  abandon  the  case  against 
Mrs.  Pitezel,  as  she  had  suffered  quite  enough  for 
any  part  she  had  reluctantly  taken  in  the  perpe- 
tration of  the  fraud  on  the  Insurance  Company, 
and  that  he  intended  to  set  her  at  liberty  without 
delay ;  that  the  uncertainty  of  the  fate  of  Alice, 
Nellie,  and  Howard,  coupled  with  the  death  of  her 
husband,  (of  which  she  and  all  parties  were  now 
quite  convinced),  had  almost  dethroned  her  rea- 
son, and  that  every  instinct  of  humanity  dictated 
a  pressing  necessity  for  haste  in  any  effort  which 
could  be  made  to  bring  her  children  to  her,  and 
that  the  immediate  recovery  of  the  children  would 
remove  a  growing  suspicion  that  they  had  been 
foully  dealt  with. 

"  It  is  strongly  suspected,  Holmes,"  said  Dis- 
trict Attorney  Graham,  "  that  j^ou  have  not  only 
murdered  Pitezel,  but  that  you  have  killed  the 
children.  The  best  way  to  remove  this  suspicion, 
is  to  produce  the  children  at  once.  Now  where 
are  they?  Where  can  I  find  them  ?  Tell  me  and 
I  will  use  every  means  in  my  power  to  secure  their 
early  recovery.  It  is  due  to  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  to 
yourself,  that  the  children  should  be  found.     You 


"4   SLIPPERY  AND  SUBTLE  KNAVE.''         147 

were  arrested  in  November  last  and  j-ou  said  the 
cliildren  were  with  their  father  in  South  America. 
It  is  now  May,  and  we  have  heard  nothing  of 
them.  We  know  your  November  statement  to  be 
untrue,  because  I  am  quite  convinced  that  their 
father  died  on  the  second  day  of  September  last,  at 
No.  1316  Callowhill  Street.  You  subsequently  said 
tliat  Pitezel  was  dead  and  that  you  gave  the  children 
to  Miss  Williams  in  Detroit,  and  you  have  further- 
more given  several  variations  from  this  last  state- 
ment. I  am  almost  persuaded  that  your  word  can- 
not be  depended  upon,  yet  I  am  not  averse  to  giv- 
ing you  an  opportunity  to  assist  me  in  clearing  u}) 
the  mystery  which  surrounds  their  disappearance 
and  their  present  abode,  and  I  now  ask  you  to  an- 
swer frankly  and  truthfully.  Where  are  the  chil- 
dren ?  " 

While  Mr.  Graham  was  talking.  Holmes  listened 
quietly  and  attentively,  and  made  no  response  un- 
til he  was  sure  that  the  District  Attorney  had 
paused  for  a  reply.  He  then  said  with  every  ap- 
pearance of  candor,  that  he  was  very  glad  of  the 
opportunity  thus  afforded  him  to  assist  in  the 
restoration  of  the  children  to  their  mother. 

"  The  last  time  I  saw  Howard,"  he  said,  "  was 
in  Detroit,  Michigan.     There  I  gave  him  to  Miss 


148  DISPOSITION  OF  THE  CHILDREN. 

Williams,  who  took  him  to  Buffalo,  New  York, 
from  which  point  she  proceeded  to  Niagara  Falls, 
After  the  departure  of  Howard,  in  Miss  Williams' 
care,  I  took  Alice  and  Nellie  to  Toronto,  Canada, 
where  they  remained  for  several  days.  At  Tor- 
onto I  purchased  railroad  tickets  for  them  for 
Niagara  Falls,  put  them  on  the  train,  and  rode 
out  of  Toronto  with  them  a  few  miles,  so  that 
they  would  be  assured  that  they  were  on  the  right 
train.  Before  their  departure,  I  prepared  a  tele- 
gram which  they  should  send  me  from  the  Falls, 
if  they  failed  to  meet  Miss  Williams  and  Howard, 
and  I  also  carefully  pinned  in  the  dress  of  Alice, 
four  hundred  dollars  in  large  bills,  so  Miss  Will- 
iams would  be  in  funds  to  defray  their  expenses. 

"  They  joined  Miss  Williams  and  Howard  at 
Niagara  Falls,  from  which  point  they  went  to 
New  York  City.  At  the  latter  place.  Miss  Will- 
iams dressed  Nellie  as  a  boy,  and  took  a  steamer 
for  Liverpool,  whence  they  went  to  London.  If 
you  search  among  the  steamship  offices  in  New 
York,  you  must  search  for  a  woman  and  a  girl  and 
two  boys,  and  not  a  woman  and  two  girls  and  a 
boy.  This  was  all  done  to  throw  the  detectives 
off  the  track,  who  were  after  me  for  the  insurance 
fraud.     Miss  Williams  opened  a  massage  estab- 


4;^5<A.<^  /^.^^^•:>-t^,*-:::^^.^.^  ^:^  c^^v^  c^^  ^z.^^  ^  ^A-^  ^— "^ 

j  ^    4ii!3u,     .<;;fc^      ^    0<i^ju-^     (i./w-_^  -7^«-. —     -Tt---^  ^^    2^-o  ^7^-Ji,  ^l^yi-t. 
Fac-Simile  of  Holmes'  Lettek  to  District  Attorney  Graham. 


"A   SLIPPERY  AND  SUBTLE  KNAVEJ'  151 

lishmeiit  at  No.  80  Veder  or  Vadar  Street,  Lon- 
don. I  luive  no  doubt  the  clnldren  are  with  her 
now,  and  veiy  likely  at  that  place." 

Holmes  said  further  that  he  and  Miss  Williauis 
had  agreed  upon  a  ci[)her,  which  they  were  to  use 
in  counnuuicating  with  each  other  in  the  personal 
colunni  of  the  New  York  Herald,  and  that  if  an 
advertisement  were  prepared  in  accordance  with 
this  cipher,  very  doubtless  she  would  be  heard 
from  in  a  very  short  time,  and  the  children  re- 
covered. 

He  further  denied  with  great  emphasis,  that  he 
had  killed  Pitezel,  or  had  harmed  the  children  and 
became  almost  tearful  when  he  exclaimed  to  the 
District  Attorne}",  "  Why  shonld  I  kill  innocent 
children  ?  " 

The  conversation  then  became  general,  during 
which  time  Holmes  exhibited  no  embarrassment 
whatever  until  he  was  asked  by  Mr.  Bailow  : 
"Please  give  me  the  "name  of  one  respectable 
person  to  whom  I  can  go,  either  in  Detroit,  Buf- 
falo, Toronto,  Niagara  Falls,  or  New  York,  who 
will  say  that  they  saw  Miss  Williams  and  the 
tliree  children  together."  This  question  staggered 
him  for  a  moment,  but  he  ({uickly  recoveixl  him- 
self and  said  in  an  injured  tone,  that  the  question 


152  THE  NEW  YORK  SUNDAY  HERALD. 

implied  a  disbelief  in  his  statement.  He  was 
promptly  told  that  it  certainly  did,  and  further- 
more, that  the  speaker  believed  his  entire  story  to 
be  a  lie  from  beginning  to  end.  This  drew  a 
vehement  protest  from  Holmes  and  he  declared 
his  readiness  to  furnish  the  cipher,  with  which  an 
advertisement  in  the  Herald  should  be  made  up, 
and  by  means  of  which  the  children  would  be  re- 
covered. 

He  Avas  told  to  prepare  the  cipher  and  he  said 
he  would  send  it  to  the  District  Attorney  from  the 
prison. 

A  day  or  two  later,  this  letter  was  received  by 
District  Attorney  Graham,  from  Holmes : 

May  29,  '95. 
District  Attorney  Graham. 
Dear  Sir  : — 

The  adv.  should  appear  in  the  Neiv 
York  Sunday  Herald  and  if  some  comment  upon 
the  case  can  also  be  put  in  body  of  paper  stating 
absence  of  children  and  that  adv.  concerning  ap- 
pears in  this  paper,  etc.,  it  would  be  an  advantage. 
Any  word  you  may  see  fit  to  use  in  adv.  will  do 
and  if  a  long  one,  only  one  sentence  need  be  in 
cipher  as  she  will  know  by  this  that  it  must  come 
from  me  as  no  one  else,  unless  I  told  them,  could 
have  same. 


"J   SLIPPERY  AND  SUBTLE  KNAVE.'  153 

Perhaps  the  first  sentence  should  be — Impor- 
tant to  liear  before  10th.  Cable.  Also  write 
to  Mr.  Massie.     Aplbcnliun — iib — CBRc — etc. 

The  Xetv  York  Herald  is  (or  was  a  year  ago)  to 
be  found  at  only  a  few  places  regularly  in  London. 
Very  Respectfully, 
H.  H.  Holmes. 

REPUBLICAN  republican  ^,,  ^^epBc 

ABCDEFGHIJ  klmnopqrst  uvwxyz.         holmes 

The  suggestions  contained  in  this  letter  were 
strictly  complied  with.  The  Philadelphia  corres- 
pondent of  the  Neio  York  Hrald,  was  taken  into 
the  confidence  of  the  District  Attorney's  office, 
and  an  article  was  prepared,  commenting  upon 
the  case  and  published  in  the  same  edition,  Sun- 
day, June  2d,  1895,  in  which  the  following  ad- 
vertisement in  the  personal  column  appeared : 


"  MINNIE  WILLIAMS,  ADELE  COVELLE.  GEK- 
ALDINE  WANDA.-AplbeuRun  nb  CBKc  EBLbvB 
lOtli  PREeB  ABnucu  PCAeUcBu  RubuPB.  Also  write 
pk  PRaaAB  cbepBa.  Address,  GEORGE  S.  GRA- 
HAM, City  Hall,  Philadelphia,  Penn.,  U.  S.  A." 


This  cipher  would  have  conveyed  to  Miss  Will- 
iams, the  following  message : 
IMPORTANT     TO     HEAR     BEFORE     10th 
CABLE    RETURN    CHILDREN   AT   ONCE. 
ALSO     AplbcnRun    nb    CBRc    EBLbiB    10th 


154      CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  SCOTLAND  YARD. 

PREeB   ABiuicu  PCAeUcBu   Ru   buPB.     Also 
WRITE  MR.  xMASSIE.     HOLMES. 
write  pk  PRaaAB.     CbepBa. 
Address,  etc. 

It  was  determined  to  open  a  correspondence 
with  the  Scotland  Yard  offices  in  London,  and  ask 
their  aid  in  searching  for  the  childi'en.  It  was 
soon  discovered,  however,  that  there  was  no  Veder 
or  Vadar  Street  in  London  and  a  request  for  the 
assistance  of  the  police  authorities  in  that  city 
was  abandoned  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   PITEZEL   CHILDREN. 

Holmes'  Story  not  Credited — Nettie  aud  Miuuie  Williams — 
Holmes  Declares  Sliuuie  Murdered  Her  Sister — Tlie  Search 
lor  the  Children  Decided  upon.  The  Route  Proposed — 
Holmes'  Cunuing — Iniportaut  Clues— Release  of  Mrs. 
Pitezel — Mrs.  Pitezel's  Statement — Nitro-Glyceriue — 
Holmes'  Letter  to  Mrs.   Pitezel — Detective  Geyer. 

No  one  in  the  District  Attorney's  office  be- 
lieved a  word  of  the  story  that  Hohnes  had  told 
about  the  children,  and  it  was  determined  to 
make  a  patient  and  persistent  search  among  tlic 
cities  in  the  West  for  information  or  clues  which 
would  lead  to  their  recovery  if  alive,  or  the 
discovery  of  their  bodies  if  dead.  It  was  a  gigan- 
tic task  and  almost  a  hopeless  one,  but  neither  its 
great  size  nor  the  strong  improbability  of  success, 
was  permitted  to  interfere  with  the  plans  which 
were  then  perfected. 

Rumors  of  the  remarkable  disappearance  of 
two  sisters,  Nettie  and  Minnie  Williams,  had  be- 
come  current.     They    had   been   last  seen  in  the 

jompany    and    under    the    protection  of    Holmes, 

(155) 


156  SEARCH  FOR  THE  CHILDREN  DECIDED  UPON. 

and  a  piece  of  real  estate  in  Fort  Worth,  Texas, 
of  which  they  were  owners,  was  found  to  have 
been  conveyed  to  Benton  T.  Lyman,  (which  was  an 
alias  of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel)  and  into  the  pos- 
session and  control  of  Holmes.  Holmes  had  ad- 
mitted his  intimacy  with  these  women  and  told  a 
startling  story  of  the  Holmes  type,  describing 
his  return  one  night  to  the  home  of  the  Williams 
sisters,  of  his  discovery  that  Minnie  in  a  moment  of 
rage  had  killed  Nettie  and  how  he  had  shielded 
the  former,  by  taking  Nettie's  body  out  on  the 
lake  at  Chicago  and  quietly  sinking  it.  This  story, 
as  untruthful  and  as  improbable  as  any  he  ever 
told,  had  left  an  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the 
officers  of  the  Insurance  Company  and  of  leading 
police  officials.  They  reasoned,  and  with  some 
force,  that  while  they  were  quite  ready  to  believe 
that  Holmes  had  killed  the  little  Pitezel  children, 
they  did  not  think  it  possible  that  such  an  astute 
and  wily  criminal,  had  left  a  trace  behind  him, 
and  that  most  probably  the  bodies  of  the  children 
had  been  sunk  in  some  lake  or  river,  just  as 
Nettie  Williams  had  been.  They  further  reminded 
the  District  Attorne}'  and  his  Assistant,  that  the 
children  had  disappeared  in  October,  1894,  and  it 
was  then  June,  1895,  and  it  was  hardly  to  be  ex- 


THE  PITEZEL    CHILDEEX.  15'^ 

pected  that  after  such  a  hipse  of  time  a  clue  which 
would  lead  to  the  discovery  of  their  bodies  or  the 
means  adopted  in  disposing  of  them,  could  be  dis- 
covered. 

The  proposition  therefore,  to  go  over  the  route 
taken  by  Holmes,  in  company  with  the  children, 
starting  from  Cincinnati,  thence  to  Indianapolis, 
Chicago,  Detroit,  Toronto,  and  Burlington  (Ver- 
mont) savored  very  much  of  a  wild  goose  chase,  and 
■would  be  moreover  a  waste  of  time  and  mone3^ 
After  Holmes  had  been  arrested  in  Boston,  the 
detectives  of  the  insurance  company  had 
traced  the  children  to  Cincinnati  and  thence  to 
the  cities  above  named,  until  Detroit  was  reached, 
ivhen  Howard  disaj^jjeared.  The  two  girls  with 
Holmes,  were  then  traced  to  Toronto,  whe7i  they 
disappeared,  and  so  it  looked  very  much  as  if  the 
story  Holmes  had  told  of  having  given  Howard  to 
Miss  Williams  in  Detroit,  and  then  sent  the  girls  to 
her  from  Toronto,  was  true. 

Holmes  however  did  not  tell  this  story  nntil 
after  he  knew  that  the  insurance  detectives  had  dis- 
covered the  houses  he  liad  rented  in  Detroit  and 
Burlington  and  so  he  adjusted  himself  to  the  sit- 
uation from  time  to  time  as  it  arose. 

The     newspapers     were    regularly    served    to 


158  ntPORTANT  CLUES. 

Holmes  in  the  county  prison  and  he  employed 
his  time  in  keeping  pace  with  the  news  as  it  came 
to  him. 

A  few  important  clues  had,  moreover,  been 
overlooked.  When  he  was  arrested,  a  tin  box  con- 
taining title  and  other  papers  and  private  memo- 
randa, were  found.  Among  the  papers  Avere  ten  or 
twelve  letters  from  Alice  and  Nellie,  written  to 
their  mother  and  grandparents  from  Cincinnati, 
Indianapolis,  and  Detroit,  and  which  they  had 
evidently  given  to  Holmes  to  mail.  A  number  of 
letters  written  by  Mrs.  Pitezel  in  Detroit  and 
Toronto,  were  also  found  in  the  box.  She  said 
she  had  given  them  to  Holmes  to  mail  and  was 
surprised  when  informed  that  they  had  been  found 
in  his  box.  These  letters  constituted  a  ver}^  im- 
portant clue  and  they  will  be  given  in  their  proper 
place  in  this  narrative.  The  other  clue  was  a 
small  bunch  of  keys,  found  by  Miss  Yoke  (Mrs. 
Howard)  in  her  truidc  and  surrendered  b}-  her  to 
the  officers. 

District  Attorney  Graham  and  his  Assistant, 
Mr.  Barlow,  were  not  affected  by  any  pessimistic 
view  of  the  situation.  They  did  not  believe  that 
a  man  could  kill  three  children  and  escape  dis- 
covery.    They  believed    that   the    children   were 


r$ 


\ 


^ 


#^-!s- 


THE  PITEZEL   CHILDREN.  161 

alive  or  in  hiding,  or  if  they  had  been  murdered 
all  previous  efforts  to  find  them  had  been  unskill- 
fully  made,  and  they  resolved  to  undertake  a  care- 
ful and  patient  search  for  the  blunder  which  a 
criminal  always  makes  between  the  inception  and 
the  consummation  of  his  crime. 

About  tiiis  time  the  District  Attorney,  as  already 
stated,  determined  upon  the  release  of  Mrs.  Pite- 
zel.  She  had  given  a  full,  frank  and  truthful 
statement  of  all  she  knew  of  the  case.  She  stated 
she  had  given  Holmes  about  !i!^6,700  of  the  87,200 
she  had  received  from  Howe,  and  Holmes  had 
given  her  a  note  drawn  to  the  order  of  B.  B. 
Samuels  for  'llGiOOO.  Here  is  an  exact  copy  of 
this  note. 

There  was  no  endorsement  on  the  back  of  this 
note. 

That  after  she  had  given  Howard  and  Nellie  to 
Holmes,  to  take  to  Cincinnati,  to  join  Alice,  she 
had  gone  to  the  home  of  her  parents  in  Galva, 
Illinois.  That  in  response  to  a  letter  from  Holmes, 
she  went  on  October  13th,  1894,  to  Deivoxt,  ivliere 
he  said  she  ivonld  meet  her  hnnhand. 

That  upon  her  arrival  in  Detroit,  Holmes  met 
her  and  said,  that  V>q\\  had  found  it  impossible  to 
remain  in  Detroit,  and  had  gone  to  Toronto.     That 


162  3IES.    PITEZEL'S  STATEMENT. 

on  October  18th  she  went  to  Toronto,  where 
Holmes  told  her,  that  Ben  got  frightened  because 
of  his  belief  that  the  detectives  were  after  him, 
and  had  gone  to  Montreal.  He  showed  her  a  note 
written  in  cipher,  which  he  said  Pitezel  had  sent 
to  her.  That  under  the  advice  and  direction  of 
Holmes,  she  journeyed  with  her  children  wearied 
and  worn  out  with  travel  and  anxiety,  to  Pres- 
cott,  thence  to  Ogdensburg,  and  finally  to  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  where  Holmes  rented  a  house 
for  her, — he  giving  her  name  as  Mrs.  Cook,  and  his 
own  as  Judson,  and  alleging  that  she  was  his 
sister ;  that  while  in  Burlington,  Holmes,  brought 
a  package  of  nitro-glycerine  to  the  house  and 
placed  it  in  the  cellar.  That  he  wrote  her  a  note^ 
requesting  her  to  carry  the  packaye  to  one  of  the 
%ipppr  floors^  which  she  did  not  do.  That  while  in 
the  Burlington  house.  Holmes  came  there  and 
went  into  the  cellar,  and  after  a  while  she  followed 
him  and  found  him  removing  some  boards  on  the 
cellar  floor.  She  says  he  exhibited  much  con- 
fusion when  he  found  her  observing  him,  and 
shortl}'  after  left  the  house. 

On  June  19,  1894,  Mrs.  Pitezel  entered  lier  own 
recognizance  to  appear  when  wanted,  and  was  at 
once  set  at  liberty. 


THE  PITEZEL   CHILDREN.  163 

On  the  day  of  her  discharge,  she  received  the 
following  remarkable  letter  from  Holmes: 

Philadelphia,  June  17th,  '95. 
Mrs.  Carrie  A.  Pitezel. 
Dear  INIadam  : — 

I  have  been  exceedingly  anxious 
during  the  last  mouths  to  communicate  with  you, 
but  have  been  completely  headed  off  in  every 
direction.  I  learn  that  you  will  shortly  be  set 
at  liberty,  and  I  shall  take  this  letter  to  City 
Hall  with  me  and  then  give  it  to  my  attorneys 
to  be  sent  to  you,  as  the  prison  regulations  do 
not  prohibit  my  doing  so.  I  have  been  re- 
peatedly called  cruel  and  heartless  during  the 
past  six  montlis,  and  by  those  who  were  at  tlie 
very  time  doing  more  than  I,  that  was  both  cruel 
and  heartless  towards  you.  Within  ten  days 
after  you  came  here  arrangements  were  made 
with  my  attorney  to  furnish  bail  for  you  and  a 
house  to  live  in.  We  were  refused  permission 
to  see  you,  although  you  remember  coming  here 
from  Boston,  it  was  promised  I  should  see  you. 
Later  I  offered  to  make  arrangements  with  your 
lawyer  for  tlie  same.  jNIr.  Barlow  of  the  District 
Attorney's  ofQce,  told  me  I  could  do  nothing  and 
that  I  need  not  worry  myself  about  you  as  you 
are  being  cared  for.  Within  three  days  after  you 
came  here  you  had  been  made  to  believe  so  much 
from  others  that  you  forgot  that  for  years  I  had 


164  HOLMES'    LETTER    TO  SIRS.    PITEZEL. 

done  all  1  could  do  for  you  and  yours  and  that  it 
was  hardly  likely  that  all  at  ouce  I  should  turn 
and  do  all  I  could  against  you. 

Facts  you  should  know  are  as  follows :  Ben 
lived  West,  and  while  drunk  at  Ft.  Worth,  Texas 
married  a  disreputable  woman  by  the  name  of 
Mrs.  Martin.  (Write  E.  Otto,  also  Boarding 
House  bet.  Houston  and  Throckmorton  Sts.,  on 
1st  St.,  where  they  lived  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyman.) 
When  he  became  sober  and  found  what  he  had 
done,  he  threatened  to  kill  himself  and  her,  and  I 
had  him  watched  by  one  of  the  other  men  until 
he  went  home.  When  we  straightened  up  the 
bank  account,  he  had  fooled  awaj^  or  been  robbed 
by  her  of  over  $850  of  the  money  we  needed  there 
so  much.  Later  he  wanted  to  carry  out  the  in- 
surance work  down  in  Mississippi,  where  he  was 
acquainted,  and  I  ^^•ent  there  with  him,  and  when 
I  found  out  what  kind  of  a  place  it  was,  would 
not  go  any  further  with  it  thei'e  and  told  Jiim  so, 
and  he  said  if  I  did  not,  he  would  kill  himself  and 
get  money  for  you,  etc.  To  get  him  out  of  the 
notion.  I  told  him  I  would  go  to  Mobile  and  if  I 
could  get  what  was  wanted  would  do  so,  if  nut,  I 
would  go  to  St.  Louis  and  write  for  him  to  come. 
I  did  not  go  to  Mohile.  Was  never  there  in  my 
life.  When  I  reached  St.  Louis  I  wrote  him,  and 
in  the  letter  he  left  me  after  he  died,  he  said  he 
tried  to  kill  himself  with  laudanum  there,  and 
later  I   found   out  this  was  so.     (Henry  Rogers, 


THE  PITEZEL   CHILDREN.  IGS 

Prop,  of  Hotel  at  Perkinsville,  Ala.)  Where  lie 
was  very  sick.  He  also  wrote  you  he  was  sick 
there,  I  think  you  told  nie.  Here  in  Phila.  \^e 
were  not  ready.  He  got  word  baby  was  sick  and 
he  had  to  own  to  me  he  had  drank  up  the  $35.00 
I  gave  him  extra  in  N.  Y.,  and  then  I  told  him  I 
would  settle  up  everything,  as  if  we  carried  it 
out,  he  might  get  to  drinking  and  tell  of  it.  He 
begged  me  not  to  do  it,  and  at  last  I  concluded  to 
try  again,  but  thought  it  best  to  have  him  think 
for  a  week  or  two  that  I  was  not  going  on  with  it, 
so  lie  would  sober  up  and  be  himself.  I  blame 
myself  for  this  and  always  shall,  for  the  next  day 
when  I  went  to  his  store  I  found  him  as  I  have 
described,  and  Perry  or  the  detectives  have  got 
the  cipher  slip  he  left  me,  or  at  all  events,  it  was 
in  the  tin  box  they  took.  He  asked  me  to  get 
you  a  house  in  Cincinnati,  on  ac.  of  good  schools, 
etc.,  and  I  did  so,  but  did  not  dare  take  you  tliere 
after  Howe  and  McD.  threatened  my  arrest,  and 
so  made  arrangements  with  Miss  W.  to  live  with 
you.  She  took  Ploward  with  her  from  Detroit  be- 
cause he  would  quarrel  with  the  girls  if  no  grown 
person  was  with  them,  and  he  wanted  his  father's 
watch  and  Alice  wanted  to  keep  it,  and  so  I  took 
it,  telling  them  I  wanted  to  show  it  to  you  and 
Dessa,  and  bought  all  three  of  them  each  a  cheap 
watch.  When  I  found  the  conditions  in  Toronto 
were  not  as  Miss  W.  thouglit  they  were,  and  I 
was  getting  word  from  Chicago  every  day  that  I 

10 


166  HOLMES'   LETTER   TO  MRS.    PITEZEL, 

was  being  followed,  I  thought  best  to  go  out  of 
the  country  altogether,  and  the  Ins.  Co.  know 
the  children  A.  and  E.  were  at  their  hotel  at  1 
o'clock  the  afternoon  you  left  Toronto,  and  be- 
tween then  and  when  I  saw  you  at  4  o'clock  at 
the  store  where  I  was  buying  some  things  for 
them,  I  had  been  to  my  wife's  hotel  twice  and 
was  with  you  again  at  6:30,  and  had  meantime 
started  the  children  to  J\Jiss  W.  and  eaten  my 
supper.  From  that  time  until  my  anest  in  Bos- 
ton, if  I  could  now  be  allowed  to  sit  down  with 
you  and  my  wife,  I  could  show  where  every  half 
hour  was  spent.  In  Boston  I  recvd.  letter 
from  Miss  W.  that  the}^  would  leave  there  in  a 
few  days,  and  if  the  detectives  would  now  go,  as 
I  beg  of  them,  they  could  trace  out  the  N.  Y.  end 
of  the  matter  and  stop  all  the  unnecessary  delay 
and  expense.  This  would  spoil  their  theories  and 
would  not  be  a  sufficiently  bloodthirsty  ending  of 
the  case  to  satisfy  them  it  seems.  As  soon  as 
they  got  a  house  and  were  settled,  they  w^ere  to 
send  word  and  you  were  to  then  go  to  them,  and 
this  was  why  I  wished  you  to  take  a  furnished 
hduse  so  you  could  get  rested  and  not  be  at  ho- 
tels. I  made  arrangements  for  Miss  W,  to  tell 
3'ou  all,  when  you  Avere  settled.  If  you  had 
known  they  were  following  you,  you  would  have 
been  worried,  and  I  think  you  will  remember  I 
tried  to  do  all  I  could  to  keep  you  from  it,  and 
we  had  to  get  rid  of  the  old  trunks  and  get  the 


TEE  PITEZEL   CHILDREN.  167 

things  into  bundles,  so  there  would  be  no  check- 
ing. There  is  a  bundle  of  yours  now  at  the  Bur- 
lington Depot  marked  with  the  name  you  Avent 
by  there,  which  I  have  forgotten.  I  was  as  care- 
ful of  the  children  as  if  they  were  my  own,  and 
you  know  me  well  enough  to  judge  me  better 
than  strangers  here  can  do.  Ben  would  not  have 
done  anything  against  me,  or  I  against  him,  any 
quicker  than  brothers.  We  neve?-  quarrelled. 
Again,  he  was  worth  too  much  to  me  for  me  to 
have  killed  him,  if  I  had  no  other  reason  not  to. 
As  to  the  children,  I  never  will  believe,  until  you 
tell  me  so  yourself,  that  you  think  they  are  dead 
or  that  1  did  anything  to  put  them  out  of  the 
way.  Knowing  me  as  you  do,  can  you  imagine 
me  killing  little  and  innocent  children,  especially 
without  any  motive  ?  Why,  if  I  was  preparing 
to  put  them  out  of  life  was  I  (within  an  hour  be- 
fore I  must  have  done  it  if  ever)  buying  them 
things  to  wear  and  make  them  comfortable,  even 
underwear  for  them  to  take  to  Miss  W.  for  How- 
ard, (which  I  can  prove  I  bought  in  Toronto,)  if 
as  they  would  have  you  believe,  Pat  had  taken 
him  and  killed  him  weeks  before.  Don't  you 
know  that  if  I  had  offered  Pat  a  million  dollars, 
he  would  not  have  done  a  thing  like  this.  I 
made  a  mistake  in  having  it  known  that  Miss  W. 
killed  her  sister,  as  it  tends  to  make  her  more 
careful  about  her  movements,  but  I  could  hardly 
do  otherwise,  when  I  was  accused  of  killing  them 


168  HOLMES'   LETTER   TO  MRS.    PITEZEL. 

both.  Now  after  they  get  ck~)ne  trying  to  make 
the  case  worse  than  it  is,  you  will  fiiul  that  they 
will  trace  the  children  to  N.  Y.  and  to  the  steamer 
there.  Next  to  you,  I  have  snffered  most  about 
them,  and  a  few  days  ago  gave  the  District  Attor- 
ney all  facts  I  could,  and  if  nothing  comes  of  it 
soon,  I  hardly  expect  anything  new  to  occur  until 
I  can  be  taken  to  Ft.  Worth  and  arrange  the 
property  so  Mr.  Massie,  her  old  guardian,  can  take 
lier  part  of  the  money  to  her  in  London.  By  ad- 
vertising, if  she  knows  there  is  mone}"  for  her, 
and  it  conies  through  Mr.  Massie  safely,  she  will 
find  some  way,  (probably  through  her  Boston 
friend,)  to  get  it.  As  long  as  there  is  nothing  to 
gain,  she  will  hardly  come  out  openly  and  lay 
herself  liable  to  arrest.  I  dislike  fearfully  to  go 
to  Ft.  Worth  to  serve  a  term,  as  the  prisons  there 
are  terrible.  I  had  rather  be  here  five  years  than 
there  one,  and  in  going,  there  is  no  better  way  to 
have  you  know  I  am  still  willing  to  do  all  1  can 
for  you  and  yours.  I  blame  tlie  Company  here  for 
keeping  you  shut  up  six  months  in  this  den,  for 
worrying  yon  about  your  children  not  being  alive 
and  for  their  trying  to  separate  my  wife  from  me, 
for  these  things  do  not  concern  them,  but  1  have 
never  blamed  them  for  otherwise  making  me  all 
the  trouble  they  can.  I  would  do  the  same  with 
another  if  the  tables  were  turned.  As  matters 
now  stand,  I  have  got  here,  in  Illinois  and  in 
Texas,  between  fifteen  and  twenty  years  of  im- 


The  riTEZEL  children.  im 

prisonnient  a\^■aiting  nie.  If  the  children  can  be 
found,  1  want  to  finish  here  and  in  lilinois  first., 
hoping  by  that  time  the  Texas  matters  may  blow 
over  or  that  I  may  die  ;  l)ut  if  they  are  not  found 
before  my  sentence  expires  liere,  if  any  arrange- 
ment can  be  made  so  papers  can  be  filed  in  Texas 
to  bring  me  back  here  or  to  Illinois,  after  I  have 
served  tliis  first  small  charge  in  Texas,  so  I  do  n(»t 
have  to  stay  and  serve  the  others  there  until  after 
my  northern  term  is  served,  I  will  go  and  dm  all  I 
can  to  both  get  the  property  straightened  there, 
so  you  can  liave  a  small  income  and  arrange  for 
recovery  of  the  children.  Hen's  death  was  genu- 
ine and  you  were  entitled  to  the  money,  and  if  it 
had  not  been  for  H.  and  McD.,  you  would  to-day 
have  been  in  Cincinnati  with  all  the  children. 

About  the  money — Ben  asked  me  to  use  most 
of  it  to  pay  debts  and  ari-ange  so  some  steady  in- 
come should  come  to  you  from  the  South.  The 
note  you  got  in  St.  Louis  was  made  by  him  in  the 
spring  and  some  money  was  due  on  it.  We  were 
f)wing  Miss  W.  about  15,000.  T  gave  -$1,000  to 
her  in  Detroit  (also  S400  to  Alice  in  Toronto) 
and  you  have  no  reason  to  think  I  was  not  intend- 
ing to  take  care  of  you  then,  more  than  in  years 
before,  and  now  if  I  can  get  to  Ft.  Worth  with- 
out running  risk  of  staying  there  more  than  one 
year,  I  will  soon  straigliten  so  as  to  get  you 
money  while  I  am  there  in  jail.  Mr.  Shoemaker 
went  there  two  weeks  last  winter  and  started  mat- 


170  HOLMES'    LETTER   TO  MRS.    PITEZEL. 

ters,  but  until  I  can  go  there  and  be  taken  into 
court,  nothing  more  can  be  clone  I  fear.  There 
are  some  letters  at  the  City  Hall  that  I  promised 
Alice  I  would  save  for  her,  as  I  did  not  dare  let  her 
carry  them  with  her,  and  if  after  they  get  through 
with  them,  you  can  get  them,  I  wish  you  would  do 
so,  also  Ben's  watch.  Howard  has  the  other  things. 
I  don't  know  what  you  will  do  meantime,  if  you 
gain  your  liberty  here,  but  rest  assured  I  will  do 
all  I  can  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  So  far 
as  the  children's  bodily  health  is  concerned,  I  feel 
sure  I  can  say  to  you  the}-  are  as  well  to-daj'  as 
though  with  you,  also  that  they  will  not  be  turned 
adrift  among  strangers,  for  two  reasons.  First, 
Miss  W.,  although  quick  tempered,  is  too  soft 
hearted  to  do  so;  second,  if  among  others  where 
their  letters  could  not  be  looked  over  and  de- 
tained, the}^  would  write  to  their  grandparents, 
(not  to  3'ou,  as  I  instructed  Miss  W.  from  Boston 
in  answer  to  her  letter  to  me.  if  she  heard  of  my 
or  our  arrest,  to  have  children  think  we  were  lost 
crossing  to  London.)  They  have  no  doubt  writ- 
ten letters  which  Miss  W.,  for  her  own  safety,  has 
withheld. 

If  there  are  any  questions  you  wish  to  ask  me, 
make  a  list  of  them  and  send  to  one  of  my  attor- 
neys. I  have  refrained  from  asking  you  anj^lest 
you  would  think  that  the  object  of  my  letter.  I 
have  no  desire  to  do  anything  to  cause  your 
lawyer  or  the  prosecution  any  unnecessary  work 


The  pitezel  children.  i7i 

or  annoyance,  and  if  you  write  me,  shall  isimply 
answer  questions  asked.  Shall  not  advise  or  ques- 
tion you,  nor  would  1  have  done  so  if  allowed  to 
have  seen  you  during  past  months,  though  it 
would  liave  saved  them  much  unnecessary  delay 
and  expense  to  have  had  us  eliminate  some  of 
the  features  of  the  case  by  comparing  memories. 
I,  at  least,  hope  your  suffering  here  is  nearly 
ended. 

Yours  Trul3^ 

H.  H.  Holmes. 

The  foregoing  narrative  substantially  presents 
the  case,  known  to,  and  considered  by  the  District 
Attorne3''s  office  at  the  time  arrangements  were 
perfected,  which  permitted  of  the  release  of  Mr. 
Geyer  from  his  routine  duties  in  the  Police  De- 
[)artment.  He  had  been  for  twenty  years  an 
esteemed  and  trusted  member  of  the  Philadelphia 
Detective  Bureau.  He  had  had  a  vast  experience  in 
detective  work,  and  more  particularly  in  murder 
cases  and  justly  enjoyed  the  friendship  and  confi- 
dence of  the  District  Attorney,  and  his  assistant, 
as  much  because  of  his  high  personal  character,  as 
his  skill  and  dexterity  in  his  profession.  Funds  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  search  were  readily  fur- 
nished by  the  officers  uf  the  Insurance  Company, 
notwithstanding  their  belief  that  little  more  could 


172  DETECTIVE  GEYER. 

be  accoinplislied  than  threshing  over  old  straw. 
On  the  evening  of  June  26th,  1895,  full  of  hope 
and  courage  Detective  Geyer  started  on  his 
journey.     But  we  will  let  him  tell  his  own  story. 


DETECTIVE  GEYER'S  NARRATIVE. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ON    THE   Til  AIL. 

Defective  Geyer  Uudeitakes  the  Seaicli — Arrival  at  Ciucin- 
nati — Searching  Hotel  Registers — Holmes  Located  at  two 
Hotels  under  Two  Aliases — Hotel  Clerk  Reoogviizes  Photo- 
graphs of  Holmes  and  the  Children — Holmes  Rents  a 
House  under  Another  Alias — Holmes  gives  Away  a  Stove 
—Geyer  Starts  for  Indianapolis. 

About  the  time  of  tlie  trial  and  conviction  of 
Holmes,  I  was  sent  for  by  Mr.  Barlow,  to  call 
upon  liim  at  the  District  Attorney's  office.  On 
my  arrival  there,  1  was  informed  that  Mr.  Graham 
liad  decided  to  send  me  West  to  make  a  search  for 
the  missing  Pitezel  children.  Arrangements  were 
then  made  with  the  snperintendent  of  police  to 
detail  me  for  the  task,  and  preparations  were  com- 
pleted for  the  start.  Several  conferences  were 
held  with  the  officers  of  the  insurance  company, 
and  the  District  Attorney  and  his  assistant,  and  I 
soon  became  familiar  witli  every  point  of  the  case. 
Eight  months  having  elapsed  since  the  children 
liad  been  heard  from,  it  did  not  look  like  a  very 
encouraging  task  to  undertake,   and  it   was   the 

{17V 


m  ARRIVAL  AT  CINCINNATI. 

general  belief  of  all  interested,  that  the  children 
would  never  be  found.  The  District  Attorney 
believed,  however,  that  another  final  effort  to  find 
the  children  should  be  made,  for  the  sake  of  the 
stricken  mother,  if  for  nothing  else.  I  was  not 
placed  under  any  restrictions,  but  was  told  to  go 
and  exercise  my  own  judgment  in  the  matter,  and 
to  follow  wherever  the  clues  led  me.  I  was  well 
piovided  with  money,  and  with  a  Godspeed  and 
well  wishes  from  all  Avho  weie  interested,  I  started 
on  my  journey. 

I  left  Philadelphia  on  Wednesday  evening, 
June  2Gth,  1895,  for  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  arriving 
there  on  the  27th  at  7.30  P.  ^[.,  registered  at  the 
Palace  Hotel,  and  after  partaking  of  some  lunch, 
I  proceeded  to  police  headquarters,  where  T  met 
ni}-  old  friend,  Detective  John  Schnooks.  I  ex- 
plained to  him  the  nature  of  my  visit  to  Cincin- 
nati, and  he  requested  me  to  call  in  the  morning 
and  have  a  conference  with  Superintendent  Philip 
Dietsch.  An  hour  or  two  was  spent  with 
Schnooks  rehearsing  some  of  our  old  stories,  after 
which  I  returned  to  the  hotel  for  a  good  night's 
rest.  Bright  and  early  the  next  morning,  I  arose 
and  after  eating  a  hearty  breakfast,  I  started  for 
the     city     hall,     where    I    met    Superintendent 


O.V  THE   TRAIL.  l?o 

Dietsch.  One  half  hour  or  more  was  spent 
with  him  going  over  the  case  and  givhig  liim  my 
reasons  for  believing  that  Holmes  had  had  the 
children  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Reaching  his  hand 
under  his  desk,  his  finger  was  placed  on  a  touch 
button  that  summoned  a  messenger  from  the 
detective  department,  who  was  instructed  to  send 
Detective  Schnooks  into  the  office.  A  moment 
or  two  later  Schnooks  made  his  appearance,  and 
the  superintendent  instructed  him  to  render  me 
all  the  assistance  in  his  power,  in  the  effort  to 
locate  the  children.  Bidding  the  superintendent 
good  da}-,  Schnooks  and  I  left  the  office  and  com- 
menced the  greatest  search  I  have  ever  had  in  my 
twenty  years'  experience  in  the  detective  business. 
When  I  left  Philadelphia,  I  was  provided  with 
photographs  of  Holmes,  Pitezel,  Alice,  Nellie,  and 
Howard  Pitezel,  Mrs.  Pitezel,  Dessie  and  the 
baby,  also  of  Mrs.  Pitezel's  trunk,  (the  one 
Holmes  borrowed  from  her  in  Detroit,  Michigan, 
saying  that  he  wanted  it  for  the  purpose  of  get- 
ting Ben  out  of  the  town,  as  the  detectives  were 
onto  him),  a  photograph  of  a  missing  trunk  which 
belonged  to  the  children  ;  also  of  a  trunk  belong- 
ing to  Mrs.  Howard.  As  I  knew  that  Holmes 
had  left  St.  Louis  on  September  28th  with  the 


176  SEARCHING   HOTEL   REGISTERS. 

two  children,  Nellie  and  Howard,  I  suggested  to 
Schnooks,  that  we  first  search  the  hotels  around 
the  depots  to  see  if  a  man  registered  there  on 
that  da\-,  who  had  three  children  with  hiui,  a  boy 
and  two  girls.  We  called  at  a  number  of  hotels, 
but  niet  ^^•ith  no  success.  We  finally  struck  a 
cheap  hotel  at  Xo.  164^  Central  Avenue,  known 
as  the  Atlantic  House,  and  upon  examining  the 
register,  we  discovered  that  on  Friday,  Sejjtember 
28th,  1894,  there  aj^peared  tlie  name  of  Alex.  E. 
Cook  and  three  chihlren.  The  photographs  of 
Holmes  and  the  three  children  were  shown  to  the 
clerk,  who  could  not  s;iy  [)Ositively  that  they  were 
the  photographs  of  the  people  wh(;  had  sto})ped 
there,  but  thought  they  resembled  them  very 
much.  Recalling  to  my  mind  that  Holmes  had 
Mrs.  Pitezel  living  in  Burlington  under  the  name 
of  Mrs.  A.  E.  Cook,  I  felt  convinced  that  I  was  on 
the  right  track.  The  clerk  informed  us  that  these 
l)arties  only  remained  over  night,  leaving  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  Tiianking  the  clerk  for  his  kind 
attention,  we  left  the  hotel  and  continued  our 
search  among  such  hotels  as  we  had  not  visited, 
and  when  we  arrived  at  the  Hotel  Bristol,  corner 
of  6th  and  Vine  Streets,  we  discovered  that  on 
Saturday,  September  29th,  1894,  there   appeared 


ON  THE   TRAIL.  177 

on  tlie  register  the  name  of  A.  E.  Cook  and  three 
childieii,  Clevehuid.  They  were  assigned  to  room 
No.  103,  a  room  whicli  contained  two  beds.  Mr. 
W.  L.  Bain,  a  clerk  at  tlie  liotel,  recognized  tlie 
photographs  of  Holmes  and  the  children,  as  the 
party  who  registered  there  under  that  name.  The 
register  showed  that  they  left  the  Bristol  on  Sun- 
day, September  30th. 

Knowing  that  Holmes  was  in  the  habit  of  rent- 
ing houses  in  most  every  city  he  visited,  I  deter- 
mined to  give  up  the  search  among  the  hotels  and 
make  some  inquiry  among  the  real  estate  agents 
and  ascertain  whether  he  had  rented  a  house  in 
Cincinnati.     After    visiting   quite    a    number   of 
them,,  we  called  at  the  office  of  J.  C.  Thomas,  No. 
15  East  3d  Street.      His  clerk  informed  us  that 
Mr.  Thomas  had  gone  to  his  home  in  Cnmmins- 
ville,  a  suburban  town  about  five  miles  from  Cin- 
cinnati.    A  photograph  of  Holmes  was  siiown  the 
clerk,  who  had  a  distinct  recollection  of  having 
seen  the  original  in  the  office  with  a  small  boy. 
The  photograph   of  Howard  was  then  produced 
and   he   identified    it  as  the   boy   who    was   with 
Holmes.     The  clerk  was  unable  to  give  us  any 
further  information  in  regard  to  the  renting  of  the 
houses,   as  the   books   were   locked   up,  and  Mi'. 


178  HOLMES  RENTS  A   HOUSE. 

Thomas  Lad  tlie  keys.  We  then  delermiued  to  go 
to  Cumminsville  and  find  Mr.  Thomas,  so  off  we 
started,  and  when  we  reached  Cumminsville,  we 
were  unable  to  locate  our  man, — nobody  appeared 
to  know  him,  and  in  consulting  the  directory  his 
name  did  not  appear  in  it,  ([)robably  he  had  not 
lived  there  long  enough.)  We  returned  to  Cin- 
cinnati somewliat  disappointed,  and  as  it  was  after 
business  hours,  we  were  cum2)elled  to  give  np  the 
search. 

The  next  morning  we  were  at  the  real  estate 
office  of  Mr.  Thomas  again,  and  as  soon  as  he 
arrived,  we  lost  no  time  in  consulting  him.  We 
showed  him  the  pictures  of  Holmes  and  Howard 
Titeze],  which  lie  immediately  recognized  as  that 
of  a  man  who  had  a  small  boy  v.ith  him,  and  who 
rented  a  house  from  him  at  No.  305  Poplar  Street, 
on  Friday,  September  28th,  1894,  paying  $15  in 
advance  for  it  and  giving  the  name  of  A.  C.  Hayes. 
Mr.  Thomas  informed  us  that  his  tenant  had  only 
remained  in  the  house  about  two  daj^s,  when  he 
left  for  parts  unknowji,  but  suggested  tliat  we  call 
on  Miss  Hill,  who  lived  at  No.  303  Poplar  Street, 
(next  door),  as  he  thought  she  would  be  able  to 
give  us  some  information  concerning  him.  We 
immediately  left  for  No.  303  Poplar  Street,  where 


ON   THE   TRAIL.  179 

we  met  Miss  Hill,  whom  we  found  to  be  very  will- 
ing to  tell  us  all  she  knew  about  the  strange  ten- 
ant. She  said  there  was  really  very  little  to  tell. 
The  first  she  noticed  of  him  was  on  Saturday 
morning,  September  29th,  when  a  furniture  wagon 
was  driven  in  front  of  No.  305  Poplar  Street  and 
a  man  and  small  boy  alighted.  The  man  took  a 
key  out  of  his  pocket,  and  after  opening  the  door 
of  No.  305,  a  large,  iron  cylinder  stove,  such  as  is 
used  in  barrooms  or  a  large  hall,  was  taken  out  of 
the  wagon  and  carried  into  the  house.  As  there 
was  no  other  furniture  taken  in,  it  aroused  her 
curiosity  and  she  spoke  of  it  to  several  of  her 
neighbors.  She  was  doubtless  observed  by  Holmes 
doing  this,  for  on  tlie  next  morning,  September 
30th,  (Sunday)  he  rang  her  bell,  and  told  her  he 
was  not  going  to  occupy  the  liouse  and  that  she 
could  have  the  stove. 

Having  located  Holmes  and  the  children  at 
two  hotels  in  Cincinnati,  and  discovered  the  two 
false  names  he  assumed.  Cook  and  Hayes,  I  felt 
justified  in  believing  that  I  had  taken  firm  hold 
of  the  end  of  the  string  which  was  to  lead  me  ul- 
timately to  the  consummation  of  my  difficult  mis- 
sion. I  was  not  able  to  appreciate  the  intense 
significance  of  tlie  renting  of  the   Poplar  Street 


iBb  ON  THE  TRAIL. 

house  and  the  delivery  of  a  stove  of  such  immense 
size  there,  but  I  felt  sure  I  was  on  the  right  track 
and  so  started  for  Indianapolis,  from  Avhich  point 
several  of  tlie  cliildren's  letters  found  in  Holmes' 
tin  box  had  been  dated. 


^I^Z'C-^t.^^ 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   UNTIRING   PURSUIT. 

The  Search  iu  ludiauapolis — Holmes  Took  Alice  Pitezel  to 
Cincinnati — The  Three  Canning  Children  Identified  as  the 
Pitezel  Children — Mrs.  Holmes  Registered  as  Mrs.  Georgia 
Howard — Represents  Her  Husband  as  Wealthy — Holmes 
as  an  Uncle — Holmes'  Schemes  to  Get  Rid  of  Howard — 
The  Children  Homesick — Chicago — The  Search  for  a  Trunk 
— Geyer  Calls  on  Pliimmer — Plnmmer  Admits  Knowing 
Holmes,  bnt  Denies  Ever  Seeing  the  Children— A  German 
Chambermaid  Recognizes  Photographs  of  the  Children — 
How  the  Children  Passed  Their  Time— The  Picture  of  the 
Trunk  Identified— Holmes  as  Harry  Gordon — Mrs.  Gordon 
— Interview  with  a  Janitor — The  Williams  Girls  Again — 
Search  for  a  Bricklayer. 

Saturday  evening,  June  29t]i,  at  7:30  o'clock, 
I  arrived  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  registering  at 
the  Spencer  House.  After  partaking  of  a  lunch, 
I  started  out  in  search  of  police  headquarters, 
which  I  found  to  be  located  on  Alabama  Street, 
south  of  Washington  Street.  Entering  the  build- 
ing, I  met  Captain  Splann,  who  is  in  charge  of  the 
detective  corps.  Introducing  myself,  I  told  liim 
what  my  business  was  in  Indianapolis  and  he  re- 
quested me  to  see  Superintendent  Powell.  About 
this  time  a  report  came  in  that  a  man  had  been 


Id4  HOLMES  TOOK  ALICE  PITEZEL  TO  CINCINNATI. 

shot  and  killed  in  the  Jiorthern  part  of  the  city, 
and  that  the  murderer  had  escaped.  The  captain 
was  compelled  to  start  for  the  scene  of  the  mur- 
der, and  invited  me  to  accompany  him,  which  I 
did.  On  our  arrival  at  the  house,  we  learned  that 
the  man  was  not  dead,  but  was  suffering  from  the 
result  of  a  pistol  shot  wound  in  the  neck.  The 
usual  preliminaries  were  gone  througli  with,  and 
after  obtaining  an  accurate  description  of  the 
would-be  murderer,  we  left  the  house  in  search  of 
Superintendent  Powelb  and  while  looking  for 
him,  I  met  several  of  the  city  detectives.  Cap- 
tain Splann  gave  them  a  description  of  the  man 
who  was  wanted,  and  requested  tiiem  to  make 
search  for  him  at  once.  Shortly  after  we  met  the 
superintendent,  who  advised  me  to  call  at  police 
headquarters  the  next  morning,  telling  me  that  he 
would  detail  a  good  man  to  aid  me,  and  that  he 
would  render  me  all  the  assistance  in  his  power. 

Sunday  morning,  bright  and  early,  I  called  at 
police  headquarters,  where  I  met  Superintendent 
Powell,  who  introduced  me  to  Detective  David 
Richards  and  informed  me  that  he  had  assigned 
him  to  assist  me  in  my  investigation  in  Indianap- 
olis. Richards  and  I  retired  to  a  private  room 
and  after  explaining  the  case  to  him  we  left  head- 


THE   VNTIEINO  PURSUIT.  Ih", 

quarters  to  continue  the  searcli  for  the  missing- 
children. 

I  suggested  to  Richards  that  we  first  make  in- 
quiry among  the  hotels  near  the  Union  Depot  and 
on  going  to  tlie  Stubbins  House  and  examining 
the  register,  we  found  that  on  September  24th, 
1894,  was  an  entry  in  tlie  name  of  Etta  Pit- 
sel,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  that  the  hotel  records 
showed  she  left  on  the  morning  of  September 
28th.  Further  inquiry  elicited  the  fact  that  the 
girl  was  brought  there  b}-  a  man  known  to  Mr. 
Robert  Sweeney,  the  clerk,  as  Mr.  Howard,  and 
that  on  Friday  morning,  September  28th,  he  had 
received  a  telegram  from  Mr.  Howard,  dated  St. 
Louis,  requesting  him  to  have  Etta  Pitsel  at  the 
Union  Depot  to  meet  St.  Louis  train  for  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio.  This  was  the  day  Holmes  left  St.  Louis 
with  Nellie  and  Howard  Pitezel,  telling  their 
mother  that  he  was  going  to  take  them  to  Indian- 
apolis, where  they  would  be  taken  care  of  b}-  a 
kind  old  lady.  Mr.  Sweeney  full}^  identified  the 
picture  of  Alice  Pitezel,  as  the  girl  who  stopped 
at  the  Stubbins  House  ;  also  that  of  Holmes,  as 
the  man  whom  he  knew  as  Howard  and  to  whom 
he  had  given  Alice  Pitezel  on  the  St.  Louis  train 
for  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


18(i  THE   THREE   CAAXfX(;    CHILDhEN. 

Feeling  confident  that  Holmes  had  returned  to 
Indianapolis,  1  continued  to  search  among  the 
hotels.  The  register  of  a  number  of  hotels  was 
examined  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  depot,  but 
we  failed  to  get  any  further  information  regard- 
ing the  children.  We  then  went  to  the  place 
known  as  the  Circl'3,  where  there  are  severat 
liotels.  We  called  upon  the  proprietor  of  the 
Hotel  English,  and  asked  permission  to  examine 
his  register  of  Septem!)er,  1894.  Turning  to  Sep- 
tember 30th,  we  discovered  on  the  register  tUe 
three  Canning  children,  Galva,  Illinois,  room  No 
79.  i\Ir.  Duncan,  the  clerk  was  shown  the  pic- 
tures of  the  children  who  were  registered  there 
under  the  name  of  Canning,  and  positively  identi- 
fied, them.  He  also  identified  the  picture  of 
Holmes,  as  that  of  the  man  who  had  brought 
them  there  and  who  took  them  away  on  the  next 
morning,  Monda}^  October  1st.  Knowing  that 
tiie  children's  grandparents'  name  Avas  Canning 
and  that  they  lived  at  Galva,  Illinois,  I  was  con- 
vinced that  I  was  on  tlie  riglit  track,  and  with  re- 
newed energy,  I  determined  to  find  out  where 
they  were  taken  to  ou  Monday  morning,  October 
1st.  Every  hotel  and  lodging  house  in  Indian 
apolis  was  searched,  but  no  record  could  be  found 


THE   VXTIRING   PURSUIT.  187 

of  where  the  chiklreu  had  stopped.  Finally  it 
dawned  upon  Kicliaids,  that  in  September,  18*.'4, 
there  had  been  on  Meridian  Street  within  fifty 
feet  of  the  Circle,  a  small  hotel  known  as  the 
Circle  House.  This  hotel  had  been  closed  for  a 
long  time,  but  we  determined  to  find  the  proprie- 
tor, a  Mr.  Merman  Ackelow.  Inquiry  around  the 
Circle  as  to  where  we  could  find  him,  brought 
fortli  the  information  that  he  had  moved  to  West 
Indianapolis,  but  that  we  could  find  his  clerk, 
a  ]\Ir.  Reisner,  near  the  Union  depot.  Off  we 
started  at  once  to  find  the  clerk  and  located  him 
in  a  hotel  south  of  the  depot,  and  ascertained 
from  him  that  the  register  and  all  the  records  be- 
longing to  the  Circle  House,  were  in  charge  of 
an  attorney  named  Everett.  We  then  made  ar- 
rangements with  Mr.  Reisner  to  meet  us  at  the 
lawyer's  office  the  following  morning,  ^londay, 
July  1st,  1895.  According  to  promise,  Richards 
and  I  were  at  lawyer  Everett's  office  at  9  A.  M.  on 
Monday,  where  we  met  clerk  Reisner.  The  reg- 
ister was  produced,  and  turning  over  to  October 
1st,  found  a  similar  entry  to  that  in  the  Hotel 
English,  three  Canning  children,  Galva,  Illinois, 
room  -No.  24.  ^Ir.  Reisner  in  looking  over  tlie 
cash  account,  informed  us  that  thev  had  left  there 


188   3IRS.  UOUIES  REGISTERED  AS  MRS.  HOWARD. 

October  6tli.  It  was  easily  observed  that  the 
books  of  the  Circle  House  were  kept  without 
much  system,  cuusequently  we  had  to  rely  ou 
dates  giveu  us  by  Reisuer  as  being  accurate. 

In  making  my  search  among  the  hotels,  I  dis- 
covered that  Holmes  had  his  wife  registered  at 
the  Circle  Park  Hotel  under  the  name  of  Mrs. 
Georgia  Howard.  The  entry  was  made  Septem- 
ber 18th,  and  slie  remained  there  until  September 
2-lth.  This  was  tlie  time  when  Holmes,  with 
Howe  and  Alice  Pitezel  was  in  Philadelphia  for 
the  purpose  of  identifying  Pitezel's  body.  While 
at  the  Circle  Park  Hotel,  Mrs.  Howard  became 
very  intimate  with  the  proprietress,  a  IVIrs.  Rodius. 
She  informed  her  that  her  husband  was  a  very 
wealthy  man,  and  that  he  owned  real  estate  and 
cattle  ranches  in  Texas;  also  had  considerable 
real  estate  in  Berlin,  Germany,  wJiere  they  in- 
tended to  go  as  soon  as  her  husband  could  gel  Ijis 
business  affairs  into  shape  to  leave. 

The  Circle  Park  Hotel  is  also  situated  in  the 
phice  known  as  the  circle  and  is  within  one  hun- 
dred feet  of  the  Circle  House,  where  Holmes  had 
the  children.  September  30th,  Mrs.  Howard's 
name  re  appears  on  the  Circle  Park  Hotel  register 
and  she  remains  there  until  October  4th,  showing 


THE   UNTIRING  PURSUIT.  189 

that  she  was  almost  within  speaking  distance  of 
the  Pitezel  children,  yet  she  was  in  absolute 
ignorance  of  it. 

I  suggested  that  we  go  to  West  Indianapolis 
and  have  an  interview  with  Mr.  Herman  Ackelow, 
the  former  proprietor  of  the  Circle  House,  to  see 
if  he  could  throw  any  light  upon  the  whereabouts 
of  the  children.  When  we  reached  West  Indian- 
apolis, we  found  that  Mr.  Ackelow  was  running  a 
beer  saloon.  It  did  not  require  a  great  deal  of 
ceremony  to  introduce  ourselves,  after  which  I 
spoke  to  him  about  the  children.  He  had  a  dis- 
tinct recollection  of  them  and  recognized  the  pho- 
tograph of  Holmes  as  the  man  who  brought  them 
and  took  them  away  from  his  hotel.  Holmes 
represented  to  INIr.  Ackelow,  that  he  was  their 
uncle, — their  mother,  who  was  a  widow,  Avas  his 
sister,  and  that  she  would  be  with  them  in  a  few 
days.  Holmes  said  that  Howard  was  a  very  bad 
boy  and  that  he  was  trying  to  place  him  in  some 
institution,  or  bind  him  out  to  some  farmer,  as  he 
wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  res]3onsibility  of  looking 
after  him. 

Mr.  Ackelow  also  informed  me,  that  on  numer- 
ous occasions  he  had  sent  his  oldest  boy  up  to  the 
children's  room  to  call  them  for  their  meals.     His 


190  THE  SEARCH   FOR    A    TRUNK. 

son  Avould  return  to  liini  and  tell  liini  tlitit  he 
found  the  children  crjing, — evidently  heart- 
broken and  homesick  to  see  their  mothei",  or  liear 
from  iier. 

From  the  fact  that  Holmes  had  told  Mr.  vVcke- 
low  that  he  wanted  to  get  rid  of  Howard,  I  came 
to  the  conclusion  at  once  that  he  had  murdered 
him,  but  where,  up  to  this  time,  I  was  unable  to 
deternjine. 

]n  an  interview  I  had  with  Mrs.  Pitezel  in  the 
Moyamensing  Prison,  Philadelphia,  she  told  me 
that  the  trunk  the  children  had  with  them  when 
they  left  her  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  was  missing.  1 
then  interviewed  Holmes,  as  to  what  he  had  done 
with  it,  and  he  informed  me  that  lie  had  left  it  in 
a  hotel  on  West  Madison  Street,  about  lift}-  feet 
from  the  corner  of  Ashland  Avenue,  Chicago, 
Illinois. 

Information  had  also  been  sent  me  by  the 
Fidelity  Company,  that  their  general  manager  in 
Detroit,  Michigan  had  positive  informat^ion  that 
Holmes  and  the  boy  were  seen  in  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan, where  Holmes  had  rented  a  house. 

While  I  felt  somewhat  reluctant  to  leave  In- 
dianapolis, as  something  seemed  to  tell  me  that 
Howard  never  left  there  alive,  I  decided  I  would 


THE   UNTIRING   PURSUIT.  191 

abandon  the  searcli  there  for  the  time  being,  and 
go  to  Chicago,  Illinois  and  see  it"  1  could  verify 
the  trunk  story.  At  11:40  A.  M.,  July  1st,  ISUl, 
I  left  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  l\)r  Chicago,  111.,  ar- 
riving there  at  5:30  P.  M.,  and  registei'ed  at  tlic 
Imperial  Hotel.  After  supper  I  went  to  Police 
Headquarters,  and  after  going  through  the  usual 
preliminaries  of  introducing  myself,  I  informed 
the  ("aptain  in  charge  of  Detective  Headquarters, 
why  I  was  in  Chicago.  He  listened  with  much 
interest  to  my  story  and  requested  me  to  call  early 
in  the  A.  M.,  when  he  would  introduce  me  to  In- 
spector Fitzpatrick. 

Tuesday  morning,  July  2d,  I  called  at  Police 
Headquarters,  and  learned  that  the  Inspector  had 
been  detained  on  some  business  and  would  not  be 
at  the  office  for  some  time.  I  was  then  introduced 
to  Detective  Sergeant  John  C.  McGinn,  and  was 
informed  that  he  was  assigned  to  assist  me  in  my 
investigation  in  Chicago. 

llie  story  of  the  finding  of  the  body  at  No. 
1316  Callowhill  Street,  and  the  mysterious  disap- 
pearance of  the  children  was  all  told  to  i\Ic(iinn. 
We  then  left  Police  Headquarters,  and  I  suggested 
tliat  we  call  on  Wliarton  Plunnner  in  room  No. 
1218  Chamber  of  Commerce  Puilding.     Plummer 


192  GEY  Ell    CALLS  ON  PLUMMER. 

was  Holmes'  attorney  and  had  represented  him  in 
S(;me  of  his  business  ventures.  Holmes  had  in- 
formed me  prior  to  leaving  Philadelphia,  that 
Plummer  had  taken  dinner  with  him  at  the  hotel 
where  tlie  children  were  stopping  on  West  Madi- 
son Street,  and  that  he  (Plummer)  had  seen  the 
girls.  Entering  the  office,  I  handed  m}^  card  to 
Mr.  Plummer,  who  requested  ns  to  be  seated.  I 
then  opened  up  a  conversation  with  him  regard- 
ing Holmes  and  the  missing  children.  He  ad- 
mitted having  seen  Holmes  in  Cliicago  about  the 
time  referred  to  and  said  that  he  met  him  on  the 
North  side,  and  thought  it  was  on  Division  Street, 
and  that  they  went  into  a  restaurant  and  had  some 
lunch.  Pie  positively  denied  having  been  at 
the  hotel  where  Holmes  stopped,  and  declared 
most  emphatically  that  he  had  never  seen  the 
children. 

Having  learned  in  Indianapolis,  that  the  cham- 
bermaid, Caroline  Klausmann,  who  had  charge  of 
the  room  in  the  Circle  House,  which  the  children 
occupied,  had  moved  to  Chicago,  I  determined  to 
locate  her  if  possible.  We  learned  that  she  was 
stopping  at  No.  223  West  Clark  Street  and  upon 
making  inquiry  at  the  above  number,  we  ascer- 
tained that  she  was  employed  at  the  Swiss  Hotel, 


THE    UNTIEING   PURSUIT.  193 

on  Wells  Street  between  Ohio  and  Indiana 
Avenues.  We  then  proeeeded  to  the  Swiss  Hotel 
where  we  met  Miss  Klausmann,  whom  I  found  to 
be  a  middle  aged  German  woman,  unable  to  speak 
English.  As  I  was  familiar  with  the  German 
language,  I  explained  wh}^  I  came  to  see  her  and 
showed  her  the  photograplis  of  the  children. 
She  recognized  them  at  once,  and  with  tears  in 
her  eyes  described  to  me  how  they  would  employ 
their  time  while  she  was  at  tlie  hotel  in  Indian- 
apolis. She  said  that  the  children  were  always 
drawing  pictures  of  houses,  or  engaged  in  writ- 
ing, and  that  she  frequently  went  into  their  room 
and  found  them  crying.  Observing  that  they 
were  alone  at  the  hotel,  she  naturally  believed 
they  were  orphan  children,  and  when  she  found 
them  crying,  she  thought  they  Avere  crying  over 
the  loss  of  their  father  and  mother.  She  said  it 
grieved  her  very  much  to  think  she  was  unable  to 
speak  English,  so  that  she  might  have  sympatliized 
with  them.  She  identified  the  picture  of  the 
missing  trunk,  as  the  one  the  children  had  with 
them  at  the  Circle  House.  After  leaving  Miss 
Klausmann,  we  concluded  we  would  go  to  the 
West  side  and  endeavor  to  locate  the  hotel  where 
Holmes  claimed   to  have   left  the  missino-  trunk. 


UM  HOLMES  AS  HARRY  GORDON. 

We  went  to  West  Madison  Street  and  Ashland 
Avenue,  but  were  unable  to  locate  any  hotel  as 
described  by  Holmes.  However,  we  made  a 
search  of  the  register  of  every  hotel  within  a  mile 
of  where  Holmes  had  said  the  children  had 
stopped,  but  were  unable  to  h)cate  them.  We 
returned  to  the  City  Hall,  and  after  a  half  hour 
consultation,  we  agreed  to  return  to  Ashland 
Avenue  and  West  Madison  Street  and  make  an- 
other search  for  the  hotel.  We  did  not  find  a 
hotel,  but  succeeded  in  finding  a  lodging  house, 
about  fifty  feet  from  the  corner  of  Ashland 
Avenue  on  West  Madison  Street,  just  as  described 
by  Holmes.  This  house  had  beeu  occupied  at  that 
time  by  a  Miss  Jennie  Irons,  whom  we  found  about 
five  blocks  further  west  on  West  Madison  Street. 
The  photographs  of  Holmes  and  the  children 
were  then  shown  to  Miss  Irons,  but  she  failed  to 
identify  the  children,  but  thought  she  had  seen 
the  man.  Subsequent  developments  have  proved 
that  Holmes,  under  the  name  of  Harry  Gordon, 
occupied  apartments  with  ]\Iiss  Irons  in  1893, 
having  witli  him  a  woman  who  was  known  as 
Mrs.  Gordon,  and  has  been  since  identified  as 
jNIiss  Emily  Cigrand,  a  wonuin  who  mysteriously 
disappeared    from    No.    701    Sixty-Third    Street, 


THE  rxrrnrxa  rrn.'^rFr.  i!tr. 

Chicago,  tlie  lioiise  that  lias  since  hecoiue  famous 
as  "  The  Castle." 

As  Holmes  had  lived  with  INIiss  Irons,  he  had 
no  difficulty  in  describing  the  place  to  me.  How- 
ever, neither  the  children,  nor  the  tiamk  had  been 
there. 

As  there  was  nothing  to  be  learned  from  Miss 
Irons,  I  concluded  that  my  next  move  would  bo 
to  visit  Pat  Quinlan,  Holmes'  janitor  at  the 
block,  Sixty-third  and  Wallace  Streets,  opposite 
Englewood  Station.  So  getting  on  a  cable  car, 
we  started  for  Quinlan's  home,  and  on  our  arrival 
there  we  discovered  there  was  only  one  entrance 
to  the  upstairs  of  the  big  building.  Going  up  a 
dark  winding  stairway,  we  reached  the  second 
story,  and  knocking  at  the  door,  we  Avere  re- 
quested to  come  in.  Quinlan  is  a  man  about  five 
feet,  eight  or  nine  inches,  slim  build,  light  curly 
hair,  sandy  mustache,  and  looks  to  be  about 
thirty-eight  j-ears  old.  I  presented  my  card  to 
hiui  and  he  requested  me  to  be  seated,  after 
which  I  began  my  conversation  about  Holmes 
and  the  missing  Pitezel  children,  trying  to  im- 
press Quinlan  all  the  while,  that  I  believed  he 
knew  all  about  them.  Quinlan  told  me  the  last 
time  he  saw  Holmes,  was  in  the  fall  of  1894,  on 


196  INTERVIEW   VnrH  A   JANITOR. 

the  North  side  in  Chicago.  He  was  with  another 
man,  whom  Qiiinhm  says  he  did  not  know. 
Quinlan  spoke  to  Holmes  and  said:  "Hello, 
where  did  you  come  from?"  Holmes  answered 
and  said  :  "  I  have  just  come  from  home."  Quin- 
lan thought  he  meant  Wilmette.  I  questioned 
Quinlan  closely  in  regard  to  the  Pitezel  children. 
He  admitted  that  he  knew  them  very  well,  but 
positively  denied  knowing  anything  whatever  of 
their  whereabouts,  and  that  if  he  did  know  he 
would  be  only  too  willing  to  render  all  the  assist- 
ance he  could  to  locate  them.  He  expressed  liis 
belief,  that  if  the  body  found  at  No.  131G  Callow- 
hill  Street  was  that  of  Pitezel,  that  Holmes  had 
murdered  him,  and  subseqnently  murdered  the 
cliildren,  and  if  such  were  the  case.  Holmes 
should  be  liung  for  it,  and  that  he,  (Quhilan) 
would  only  be  too  willing  to  spring  the  trap. 
Quinlan  said  from  what  he  had  read  of  Holmes 
since  the  case  has  gained  publicity,  he  sincerely 
believed  that  Holmes  set  fire  to  the  block  and  in- 
tended to  destroy  him  and  his  famil}'. 

During  my  last  interview  with  Holmes  in  Moy- 
amensing  Prison,  he  told  me  he  had  given  the 
children  to  a  man  named  Edward  Hatch,  who 
was    formerly    a    bricklayer   and    had    done    odd 


THE   UNTIRINQ  PURSUIT.  197 

chores  around  the  block  in  Chicago.  He  said 
that  QuinLin  and  Dr.  Robinson  were  well  ac- 
quainted with  him,  so  while  at  Quinlan's,  1 
thought  I  would  take  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunit}',  and  question  Pat  as  to  wliat  he  knew 
about  Hatch.  He  informed  me  tJiat  he  knew  a 
bricklayer  by  that  name,  who  had  done  some 
work  for  Holmes,  and  that  he  was  a  hardworking, 
industrious  man.  I  then  told  him  about  what 
Holmes  had  said  about  giving  Hatch  the  children. 
Quinlan  denounced  Holmes  as  a  dirty,  lying 
scoundrel  and  said  that  Hatch  would  not  be 
guilty  of  doing  anything  tliat  was  Avrong.  I  also 
interviewed  Qainlan  in  regard  to  the  Williams 
girls,  who  were  formerly  at  tlie  Castle.  He  said 
he  knew  Minnie  and  had  met  her  at  the  block. 
No.  701  West  Sixty-third  Street,  and  that  Holmes 
introduced  her  to  him  and  his  wife,  as  his  cousin, 
and  also  introduced  her  to  Mrs.  Holmes  as  his 
cousin.  He  said  positively,  that  he  never  saw 
Nettie  Williams  after  this  case  was  made  public. 

I  next  interviewed  Dr.  Robinson,  the  proprie- 
tor of  the  drug  store  on  the  first  floor  in  the 
Castle.  He  had  no  recollection  of  knowing  a 
man  named  Hatch,  but  said  he  had  seen  both 
Minnie  and  Nettie  Williams  tosrether  at  the  block 


198  SEARCH  FOR   A    BRTCKLAYER. 

ill  June,  1804,  and  saw  iMinnie  tliere  alone  about 
one  month  later.  The  Doctor's  opinion  of 
Holmes  was  not  a  very  good  one. 

The  story  Holmes  gave  me  about  Hatch  and 
the  children,  was  his  very  latest,  and  was  told 
immediately  after  he  learned  that  I  was  about  to 
make  a  new  search  for  the  children.  He  had  al- 
ways stuck  to  his  romance  about  giving  them  to 
Minnie  Williams,  but  he  was  evidently  anticipat- 
ing tlie  possibility  of  just  what  followed,  so  he 
rigged  up  the  Hatch  tale  and  arranged  it  to  suit 
possible  future  developments. 

The  next  move  we  made  was  to  try  and  locate 
Hatch.  We  found  by  consulting  a  directory,  that 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Edward  Hatch,  a  brick- 
layer by  trade,  lived  at  No.  6248  Sangamon 
Street.  This  is  about  six  blocks  from  the  Castle, 
so  we  concluded  to  go  there  at  once  and  see  if 
we  could  find  him.  On  our  arrival  at  the  house, 
we  found  that  it  was  occupied  by  a  colored  fam- 
ily and  that  Hatch  had  moved  out  about  ten 
months  before.  Inquir}'  was  made  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, but  no  one  appeared  to  know  where  he 
had  gone.  We  then  visited  a  Mr.  Glenister,  who 
resides  on  Union  Street  above  Twenty-eighth 
Street,   who  is  the  Secretary  of  the  Bricklayers' 


Nellie  Pite/el. 


THE    UNTTIilNa    PrnSUTT.  201 

Union  and  tried  to  ascertain  from  him  if  there 
was  such  a  person  connected  with  their  Union  as 
Hatch.  Mr.  Glenister  searclied  the  records  for 
ns,  but  ^^•as  unable  to  find  the  name.  We  then 
went  to  a  number  of  buildings  in  course  of  erec- 
tion and  made  inquiry  among  the  brickhayers,  but 
no  one  appeared  to  know  a  man  b}'  that  name, 
wlio  followed  the  trade  of  a  bricklayer. 

I  then  decided  to  leave  the  search  for  Hatch  in 
tlie   hands   of  Detective   McGinn,   and   to   go   to 

Detroit. 
12 


CHAPTER  XT. 

AN   EXPERT   IN   CRIME. 

Detroit — Holmes  Rents  a  House — Howard  with  Him — Alice 
jind  Nellie  at  the  New  Western  Hotel — Holmes  as  G. 
Howell — Search  iu  Holmes'  House — Alice  and  Nellie 
Again  Identified — Picture  of  the  Trunk  Again  Recog- 
nized— Mrs.  Pitezel  at  Geis'  Hotel — Under  Great  ]\[ental 
.  Strain — Mrs.  Pilezel  and  Her  Children  but  a  Few  Blocks 
Apart — Holmes'  Skillful  plotting. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  July  4th,  I  left  Chi- 
cago for  Detroit,  Michigan,  arriving  there  at  G 
P.  M.  and  registered  at  the  Hotel  Normaiidie.  I 
Avent  at  once  to  police  headquarters,  where  I  met 
Detective  Thomas  Meyler,  an  old  personal  friend 
of  mine,  to  whom  I  explained  the  nature  of  my 
visit.  I  was  then  introduced  to  the  captain  in 
charge  and  repeated  my  story  of  the  missing  chil- 
dren. He  requested  me  to  call  in  the  morning 
and  see  Superintendent  Starkweather. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  5th,  I  was  at 
police  headquarters,  where  I  met  the  superin- 
tendent who  assigned  Detective  Tuttle  to  assist 
me  in  my  search  in  Detroit.  The  same  old  story 
was  told  to  him  and  off  we  started. 

(203) 


•?0t  HOUTES  PxENTS  A    HOUSE. 

The  first  jilace  at  wliicli  we  called  was  at  the 
ciffice  of  the  Fidelity  j\Iutual  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany, where  we  met  Mr.  Frank  R  Alderman,  the 
general  manager  for  JNJicliigan.  After  obtaining 
from  liim  the  name  of  the  real  estate  agent  who 
rented  a  house  to  Holmes,  we  left  the  office  and 
went  to  No.  60  Monroe  Street,  where  we  met  a 
Mr.  Bonninghausen,  the  agent  referred  to.  Hand- 
ing him  my  card,  I  requested  a  private  interview 
which  he  granted,  and  after  propounding  several 
questions  to  him,  I  learned  that  on  or  about  the 
13th  of  October,  1894,  a  gentleman  called  at  his 
office,  representing  that  he  wanted  to  rent  a  liouse 
for  a  widowed  sister  who  had  three  children.  lie 
said  he  desired  a  house  that  was  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  city,  if  it  were  possible  to  get  one. 

This  just  suited  the  agent,  as  he  had  a  house  at 
No.  241  E.  Forest  Avenue  in  wdiich  he  had  a  per- 
sonal interest,  and  which  had  been  without  a  ten- 
ant for  a  long  time.  The  agent  identified  the  pho- 
tograph of  Holmes,  as  that  of  the  man  ^^ho  in- 
quired for  the  house  and  said  that  Holmes  took 
tlie  number  and  was  informed  tliat  he  would  find 
the  kej's  at  Mr.  McAllister's  drug  store  on  Forest 
Avenue,  which  is  just  a  few  doors  below  No.  241. 
About  two  hours  later  Holmes  returned  to  Mr. 


AX  EXPERT  IX  CRIME.  2iir, 

BdiHifiigliauseiis  office  and  inforiued  liiui  tljat  tlie 
lioiibe  was  just  what  he  wanted.  He  paid  five 
dollars  in  advance,  and  said  that  when  his  sister 
arrived,  which  would  be  in  tliree  or  four  days,  he 
would  return  and  pay  six  months'  rent  in  advance, 
as  he  did  not  intend  living  with  her,  and  wanted 
to  see  that  she  was  properly  provided  for.  Mr. 
Ijonninghausen  said  he  was  under  the  ini[)ression 
that  Holmes  had  a  small  boy  with  him  when  he 
rented  the  house,  describing  him  as  a  boy  about 
nine  or  ten  years  old.  A  Mr.  Moore,  who  was  in 
the  office  at  the  time  Holmes  rented  the  house, 
and  who  by  the  wa}'  is  the  present  occupant,  cor- 
roborated Mr.  Bonninghausen  as  to  Holmes  hav- 
ing the  boy  Howard  with  him  while  in  Detroit. 

Leaving  the  real  estate  office,  I  was  somewhat 
impressed  with  the  belief  that  my  theory,  that 
Howard  had  never  left  Indianapolis  alive,  was 
wrong.  However,  I  decided  to  make  a  search 
among  the  hotels,  and  see  if  I  could  locate  the 
children,  suggesting  to  Tuttle  that  we  first  visit 
those  near  the  depot.  The  first  few  we  visited 
failed  to  give  us  any  further  information,  but 
when  Ave  examined  the  register  of  the  New  West- 
ern Hotel.  P.  W.  Cutter,  proprietor,  we  discovered 
the  name  of  Etta  and  Xellie  Canning,  St.  Louis, 


20G  ALICE  AXD  NELLIE  AT  THE  GREAT  WESTERN. 

Mo.,  room  No.  5,  made  October  12th,  and  evidently 
about  midnight.  The  photographs  were  shown 
Mr.  Cotter,  who  positively  identified  the  girls  as 
having  stopped  there,  and  that  of  Holmes  as  the 
man  who  had  brought  them  there,  registered  their 
names,  and  who  called  tlie  next  day  and  took  them 
away.  Mr.  Cotter  was  quite  positive  that  there 
were  but  two  children  and  that  they  had  no  trunk 
with  them.  The  register  of  the  Circle  House  in 
Indianapolis,  showed  that  the  children  had  left 
that  hotel  on  the  6th  of  October,  and  they  ap- 
peared to  have  arrived  in  Detroit,  ^Michigan,  Oc- 
tober 12th.  Tliis  was  a  matter  for  serious  consid- 
eration, as  it  made  an  interval  of  six  days  to  be 
accounted  for  between  Indianapolis  and  Detroit. 

Having  satisfied  myself  that  the  two  girls  had 
been  in  Detroit,  I  determined  to  try  and  locate 
Holmes,  and  ascertain  if  the  boy  had  stopped  with 
him,  so  we  continued  our  search  among  the  hotels, 
and  on  the  register  of  the  Normandie,  I  found  an 
entry  October  12th,  1894,  "  G.  Howell  and  wife, 
Adrian."  Having  become  thoroughly  familiar 
witli  Holmes'  handwriting  and  knowing  that  the 
name  "  G.  Howell  "  was  one  of  his  many  aliases,  I 
felt  convinced  that  it  M^as  his  registry.  The  pho- 
tographs of  Holmes  and  his  wife  were  shown  the 


AX  EXPERT  IX  CRIME.  207 

Clerk,  who  was  not  positive  as  to  Holmes,  but  was 
sure  that  tlie  woman  liad  stopped  at  the  hotel 
about  that  time.  The  record  of  the  hotel  proved 
that  Holmes  and  his  wife  left  there  October  13th 
after  supper. 

After  leaving  the  Normandie,  I  decided  to  visit 
the  house  No.  241  East  Forest  Avenue.  On 
arriving  there  we  were  met  by  Mrs.  INIoore,  who 
very  kindly  admitted  us  to  the  house  and  gave  us 
the  privilege  of  examining  the  cellar.  I  found 
that  it  was  divided  into  three  parts.  The  front 
which  extended  across  the  entire  width  of  the 
house,  had  a  cemented  floor  and  contained  a  wood 
and  coal  bin,  and  a  large  portable  heater  about 
four  feet  in  diameter.  The  part  in  the  rear  to  the 
west  side  of  the  house,  was  used  as  a  wash  room, 
having  a  large  stationary  washtub  in  it  and  a 
board  floor.  The  part  to  the  east  side  was  used 
for  storage  purposes,  and  it  also  had  a  cement 
floor  and  cellar  steps  leading  to  kitchen  on  first 
floor.  A  careful  examination  of  both  the  cement 
and  board  floor,  proved  that  they  had  not  been 
tampered  with. 

There  was  a  dijor  opening  out  of  the  wash  room 
to  a  stairway,  which  leads  to  the  back  yard,  and 
is  covered  with  a  cellar  door.     The  stairway  w^as 


208  SEAKVJf   IX  HOLMES'    HOUSE. 

encased  by  a  brick  wall,  which  served  as  a  foun- 
dation for  a  rear  porch.  Tlds  foundation  is  about 
three  feet  six  inches  above  the  cellar  floor  and  it 
was  tliscovered  after  Holmes  left  the  house,  that 
a  hole  had  been  dug  back  of  the  wall  facing  the 
cellar  steps,  about  four  feet  long,  three  feet  wide, 
and  three  feet  six  inches  deep. 

Mr.  Boninghausen  and  INIr.  Moore  having  in- 
formed me  that  they  had  seen  a  bt)y  with  Holmes 
when  he  rented  the  house,  Detective  Tuttle  and 
I  searched  every  spot  of  ground  adjacent  to  the 
premises  to  see  if  the  earth  had  been  disturbed, 
but  we  could  find  no  evidence  of  it.  We  then 
made  an  examination  of  tiie  cellar  heater  and  dis- 
covered the  door  to  be  thirteen  inches  wide  and 
eight  inches  high,  and  the  cylinder  about  four  feet 
in  diameter,  but  there  was  no  evidence,  nor  had 
there  been,  that  the  furnace  had  been  used  for 
any  improper  or  unusual  ])urpose,  so  JNlr.  i\loore 
said.  I  called  on  Dr.  McAllister  who  had  posses- 
sion of  the  keys.  I  showed  him  the  picture  of 
Holmes,  and  he  identified  it  at  once  as  that  of  a 
man  to  whom  he  had  delivered  the  keys.  We 
then  returned  to  Police  Headquarters,  and  after  a 
short  consultation,  we  decided  to  keep  up  the 
hunt   for   Alice   and   Nellie,  and   also    to   locate 


AN  EXPERT  IN  CRDIE.  209 

Holmes  and  liis  wife.  1  had  a  iiieiuoraiiduin  of 
the  address  given  by  Aliee  in  her  letter  written 
in  Detroit,  October  14th,  1894,  at  No.  91  Congress 
Street.  This  house  was  ke[)t  by  Mrs.  Iviieinda 
Burns.  She  distinctly  lemembered  having  ac- 
commodated two  little  girls,  who  came  thei'e  on 
October  13th  and  left  October  19th.  She  said  u 
gentleman  had  called  on  her  on  tiie  morning  of 
tlie  13th  of  October,  rented  the  room  and  paid 
one  week's  rent  in  advance,  after  which  lie  left 
and  returned  again  in  less  than  an  hour,  bringing 
the  little  girls  with  him.  He  introduced  them  to 
j\Irs.  Burns  as  Miss  Annie  and  Miss  Amy. 

jNlrs.  Burns  said  the  children  were  never  out  of 
their  room  and  occupied  their  entire  time  reading 
and  drawing.  They  had  no  trunk  w  ith  them,  but 
each  carried  a  small  satchel.  They  were  very 
<j[uiet  and  reserved,  and  at  no  time  did  tliey  reveal 
their  identit}-. 

When  shown  the  pictures  of  Holmes,  and  Nellie 
and  Alice  Pitezel,  she  identified  the  girls  at  once 
as  the  children  who  had  stopped  with  her,  and 
Holmes  as  the  man  who  had  rented  the  room  for 
them. 

Not  having  been  able  to  trace  Hulmes  to  any 
other    hotel,    we   concluded   to   try   the   boarding 


210       ALICE  AXD   NELLIE  AGAIN  IDENTIFIED. 

houses,  so  away  we  journeyed,  and  the  reader  can 
imagine  the  task  in  going  to  many,  many  houses, 
ringing  the  bells,  showing  the  pictures  and  telling 
the  story  to  every  person  who  came  to  the  doors. 
We  finally  located  a  house  at  No.  54  Park  Place 
kept  by  a  Mrs.  May  Ralston,  who  when  shown  the 
pictures  of  Holmes  and  his  wife,  identified  them 
as  a  couple  who  had  come  there  in  October,  189-1, 
paid  the  rent  for  a  room  for  one  week,  but  onlj^ 
remained  four  or  five  days.  While  at  Ralston's 
they  were  known  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holmes,  and  he 
represented  that  they  were  members  of  the 
theatrical  profession.  The  pictures  of  the  trunks 
were  shown  Mrs.  Ralston  and  she  picked  out 
the  picture  of  Mrs.  Howard's  canvas  covered 
trunk  as  the  one  the  couple  had  in  use  at  her 
house. 

The  disappearance  of  the  children"s  trunk  was 
the  source  of  much  annoyance  to  me,  and  I  de- 
termined, if  possible  to  locate  it.  Several  days 
were  spent  among  expressmen,  freight  depots, 
omnibus  companies,  express  offices,  hackmen,  and 
liver^mien,  but  we  could  get  no  clue  to  it. 

Mrs.  Pitezel  having  informed  me  that  she  liad 
stopped  at  Geis's  Hotel  while  in  Detroit,  I  deter- 
mined to  go   there  and  interview  the  jiroprietor 


AX  EXPERT  IX  CRIME.  211 

and  others  connected  with  the  hotel,  from  whom 
I  might  obtain  information  which  would  be  of  serv- 
ice to  me  in  the  effort  to  locate  the  children.  I 
found  in  looking  over  the  register,  that  the  only 
party  who  had  stupj)ed  there,  and  who  would  an- 
swer the  description  of  Mrs.  Pitezel,  Dessie  and 
the  baby,  had  registered  on  October  14th,  18iJ4,  m 
the  name  of  Mrs.  C.  A.  Adams,  and  daughter, 
Chicago,  room  No.  33.  Miss  Minnie  Mulholland, 
the  housekeeper,  identified  the  picture  of  Mi-s. 
Pitezel,  Dessie  and  the  baby  as  the  parties  who 
had  registered  there  in  October  under  the  name  of 
Adams,  and  had  occupied  No.  33,  having  with 
them  two  trunks,  one  a  large  top  flat  trunk,  and 
the  other  very  small.  Miss  Mulholland  identified 
the  picture  of  the  flat  top  trunk  I  showed  her,  as 
one  similar  to  that  which  Mrs.  Pitezel  had  with 
her  while  at  the  hotel. 

Miss  Mulholland  in  describing  Mrs.  Pitezel,  alias 
Adams,  says  she  looked  like  a  woman  who  was 
bowed  down  with  trouble.  She  was  never  out  of 
her  room,  and  was  apparently  suffering  great  men- 
tal anxiety.  She  occupied  a  back  room,  but  as 
Miss  Mulholland  had  a  room  facing  the  street,  she 
consented  to  allow  her  the  use  of  it  during  the 
da}'.     When  Mrs.   Pitezel  said  she  was  going  to 


•212  LWDER    a  BEAT  MENTAL   STRAIN. 

leave,  Miss  Mulholland  told  her  she  would  send 
for  the  omnibus  company  to  move  her  trunk  for 
her.  Mrs.  Pitezel  objected  to  this,  and  said  thai 
she  would  look  after  that  herself,  and  went  out 
and  emploj^ed  an  ordinary  car  man.  This  was 
evidently  done  so  that  the  detectives  could  not 
trace  her  baggage  through  the  express  office.  In 
doing  this,  she  was  acting  under  instructions  from 
Holmes,  who  never  transferred  his  baggage  by  ex- 
press, but  always  secured  a  man  on  the  street  to 
do  it. 

Geis's  Hotel  is  not  more  than  three  or  four 
blocks  from  Mrs.  Burns'  house  at  Xo.  01  Congress 
Street. 

The  children,  Alice  and  Nellie  had  arrived  at 
the  last  named  place  on  October  13th,  and  Mrs. 
Pitezel  and  Dessie  and  the  baby  had  registered  at 
(ieis's  on  the  14th,  so  it  become  perfectly  evident 
that  the  mother,  Alice  and'  Nellie  were  in  Detroit 
at  the  same  time,  and  but  a  i(i\\  blocks  apart,  the 
former  supposing  her  children  to  be  in  Indian- 
apolis, and  the  latter  led  to  believe  by  Holmes 
that  their  mother  was  in  Galva,  Illinois.  At  this 
very  tin^e  the  children  wrote  a  letter  from  No. 
91  Congress  Street  to  their  grandparents  at  Galva, 
in  which  thev  sent  a  messaoe  to  their  mother.     In 


AX  F.xrEur  IX  crime.  213 

botli  })laces  I  learned  tliat  the  travellers  011  this 
sad  journey  kept  close  within  their  rooms. 

What  falsehoods,  what  fabrications  were  made 
up  hy  this  accomplished  liar,  to  induce  or  loice 
tlie  little  girls  to  keep  in  doors  may  never  he 
told,  Tuiless  he  for  once  sjjeaks  the  truth.  To 
Mrs  Pitezel,  of  course,  he  held  up  the  terrible 
possibility  of  Ben  being  traced  by  tile  detectives 
through  her  movements,  hence  the  necessity  for 
seclusion. 

I  found  that  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  the  two  children 
who  were  travelling  witli  her,  Dessie  and  the 
baby,  had  left  Geis"s  Hotel  on  October  18th,  and 
Alice  and  Nellie  from  No.  91  Congi'ess  Street  on 
October  19th,  and  that  Holmes  and  his  wife  from 
No.  54  Park  Place  on  October  18th. 

It  must  have  taken  very  careful  management  to 
have  moved  these  three  separate  parties  from  De- 
troit to  Toronto,  without  either  of  the  three  dis- 
covering either  of  the  others,  but  this  great  ex- 
pert in  crime  did  it,  and  did  it  successfully.  His 
wife  (or  j\Irs.  Howard,  who  supposed  she  was  his 
wife)  was  in  total  ignorance  of  the  whole  scheme. 
She  was  not  only  unaware  of  the  proximity  of 
Alice  and  Nellie,  and  of  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  her 
other  two  children,  but  she  did  not  know  them 


214  HOLMES'   SKILLFUL   PLOTTING. 

and  liad  never  seen  them,  and  supposed  that  her 
husband  (Holmes)  was  travelling  from  city  to  city 
selling  leases  upon  an  alleged  patent  copier,  or  col- 
lecting mone3'S  from  corporations  and  merchants 
using  such  copiers.  This  was  his  story  to  her, 
and  it  is  the  only  bright  spot  in  this  entire  story. 
It  might  be  said  to  the  credit  of  Holmes,  that  al- 
though he  had  deceived  and  betraj^ed  this  woman 
into  marrying  him,  when  he  had  a  lawful  wife 
(and  still  another  wcmian  who  called  herself  liis 
wife)  living,  he  never  permitted  Miss  Yoke  to  dis- 
cover that  he  was  a  swindler  or  worse.  He  evi- 
dently desired  to  hold  her  respect  for  him  until 
tlie  very  last. 

I  concluded  my  search  in  Detroit  on  Sunday, 
July  7th,  and  in  tlie  evening  of  that  day,  took  the 
train  for  Toronto,  at  wliich  place  I  arrived  the 
next  morning  at  half  past  nine  o'clock. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  SEAKCH  REWARDED. 

Arrival  at  Toronto — The  Telltale  Register — G.  Howell  aud 
Wife  Again — The  Children  in  Toronto — H.  Howell  and 
Wife — Gej'er  Plans  a  Campaign — Meets  the  Newspaper 
Men — The  Aid  of  the  Press  Invoked — A  Disheartening 
Search — The  House  in  a  Field — The  Pile  of  Loose  Dirt — 
Sales  of  Half-tickets — Geyer  Visits  Prescott  and  Niagara 
Falls— Back  in  Toronto— Holmes  Traced  to  No.  16  St. 
Vincent  Street — Spades  are  Trumps — The  Search  in  the 
Cellar — Finding  the  Bodies  of  Alice  and  Nellie  Pitezel — 
Disposition  of  the  Remains — The  St.  Vincent  House  Be- 
sieged by  Reporters  and  Sketch  Artists. 

I  WAS  not  a  stranger  in  Toronto.  M^-  business 
had  previously  called  me  to  that  city  on  several 
occasions,  and  so  when  I  arrived  at  the  station,  I 
directed  the  cabman  to  take  me  to  the  Rossin 
House,  where  I  had  stopped  before.  After  break- 
fast and  a  short  rest  from  ni}^  long  and  tiresome 
ride,  I  gathered  up  my  bundle  of  papers  and 
photographs  and  proceeded  to  the  police  head- 
quarters. 

On  entering  the  detective  department,  I  met 
another  old  friend,  Alf.  Cuddj^  and  after  shaking 
hands  with  all  the  boys,  whom  I  had  met  before. 


21  (J  a.    HOWELL   AND    WIFE  AGAIN. 

I  was  t;ikeu  into  tlie  office  of  the  ever  kind,  affa- 
ble and  courteous  inspectoi-,  Mr.  Stark,  to  whom 
I  told  the  oft  repeated  story.  He  listened  to  nie 
very  attentively,  and  then  took  nie  into  the  room 
of  Chief  Constable  Grassett,  whom  I  had  not  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  before.  To  him  1  pre- 
sented my  letter  of  introduction  from  the  super- 
intendent of  police  of  Philadelphia,  and  recounted 
to  him  the  object  of  my  errand.  The  chief  as- 
sured me  that  his  department  would  do  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  assist  me,  and  sent  a  mes- 
senger for  Inspector  Stark  to  come  into  the  room. 
He  instructed  the  inspector  to  detail  a  man  to 
work  with  me  as  long  as  he  was  needed.  Tliank- 
ing  the  chief  for  his  courtesy  and  attention,  I  re- 
turned with  the  inspector  to  the  detective  de- 
partment, where  my  old  friend  Cuddy  ^-as  as- 
signed to  help  me  out  in  Toronto.  Tliis  suited 
me  very  well,  as  I  knew  Cuddy  to  be  an  energetic 
fellow  and  not  afraid  of  work,  and  willing  to 
keep  on  until  every  clue  liad  been  run  out,  and 
the  investigation  either  a  success  or  a  failure. 
Into  a  private  room  we  went,  and  I  narrated  the 
entire  story  to  Cuddy,  so  that  lie  would  know 
what  lie  was  doing. 

Proceeding  as  I  did  before,  I  thouglit  it  wise  to 


Howard  Pitezel. 


THE  SEARCH  REWARDED.  219 

examine  the  registers  in  the  hotels  around  the 
Grand  Trunk  Depot,  and  we  first  wended  our 
way  to  the  Walker  House  and  asked  permission 
to  see  the  register  of  1894.  We  were  informed 
that  it  had  been  packed  away  in  the  storeroom, 
but  if  it  was  important  they  would  send  a  bell 
boy  to  get  it.  We  told  the  clerk  we  would  con- 
sider it  a  great  favor  if  he  would  do  so,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  we  had  the  register  iu  our  possession. 
Turning  over  the  leaves  until  we  came  to  October 
18th,  we  found  that  "  G.  Howell  and  wife,  Co- 
lumbus," had  registered  for  supper  that  day  and 
left  after  dinner  on  the  20th,  occupying  room 
No.  14. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  Union  House.  There 
the  same  request  was  made  and  complied  with, 
and  on  the  18th  of  October  we  found  the  name  of 
"  Mrs.  C.  A.  Adams  and  daughter,  Columbus." 
Having  located  Holmes  and  Mrs.  Pitezel,  the  next 
thing  to  do  was  to  locate  the  girls,  so  we  contin- 
ued our  search  among  the  hotels,  until  we  reached 
the  Albion,  and  upon  examining  the  register  there 
found  the  names  of  "  Alice  and  Nellie  Canning, 
Detroit."  This  registry  was  made  October  19th 
and  had  evidently  been  written  by  one  of  the 
girls. 


220  THE  CHILDREN  IN  TORONTO. 

The  photographs  of  the  girls  were  then  shown 
to  Mr.  Herbert  Jones,  the  chief  clerk  of  the  hotel, 
who  positively  identified  them  as  the  pictures  of 
the  children  who  were  brought  to  the  hotel  by 
their  porter,  George  Dennis,  on  Friday  evening, 
October  19th.  Mr.  Jones  also  informed  us  that 
on  the  morning  following  their  arrival,  a  gentle- 
man called  to  see  them  and  was  there  on  almost 
every  succeeding  day  during  their  stay  at  the  ho- 
tel, with  the  exception  of  Sunday.  The  picture 
of  Holmes  was  shown  Mr.  Jones.  He  recognized 
it  as  the  man  who  called  at  the  hotel  for  the  chil- 
dren in  the  mornings  of  the  days  they  stopped  at 
the  hotel.  He  said  this  man  took  the  children 
away  with  him  for  the  day,  but  they  usually  re- 
turned alone  in  the  evening  for  supper.  On  the 
morning  of  the  25th  of  October,  this  same  man 
called  as  usual  at  the  hotel,  paid  the  children's 
board  bill,  took  them  away  with  him,  and  that  is 
the  last  time  they  were  seen  by  him  or  any  one  in 
the  hotel. 

Holmes  having  left  the  Walker  House  on  the 
afternoon  of  October  20th,  and  knowing  that  he 
was  in  Toronto  as  late  as  the  25th,  I  determined 
to  discover  whether  he  had  registered  and  re- 
mained   in   another   hotel, — so   I    continued   my 


THE  SEARCH  REWARDED.  221 

search  until  we  arrived  at  the  Palmer  House,  and 
there,  under  date  of  October  21st,  we  found  him 
registered  under  the  name  of  "  H.  Howell  and 
wife,  Columbus,"  room  No.  32. 

So  thoroughly  convinced  was  I  that  Holmes  had 
rented  a  house  in  Toronto,  Ontario,  that  after 
hearing  Mr.  Jones'  story,  I  wrote  in  my  report  to 
the  Superintendent  of  Police  in  Philadelphia, 
dated  at  Toronto,  July  9th,  1895,  the  following : 

^'It  is  my  impression  that  Holmes  rented  a 
house  in  Toronto  the  same  as  he  did  in  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  and  Detroit,  Michigan,  and  that  on 
the  25th  of  October  he  murdered  the  girls  and 
disposed  of  their  bodies  by  either  burying  them 
in  tlie  cellar,  or  some  convenient  place,  or  burning 
them  in  the  heater.  I  intend  to  go  to  all  the  real 
estate  agents  and  see  if  they  can  recollect  having 
rented  a  house  about  that  time  to  a  man  who  only 
occupied  it  for  a  few  days,  and  who  represented 
that  he  wanted  it  for  a  widowed  sister." 

Inspired  by  the  belief  that  perseverance  and 
energy  would  bring  forth  some  good  result,  I  de- 
termined to  get  a  Toronto  directory  and  prepare 
a  list  of  real  estate  agents,  and  interview  each 
and  every  one  of  them, — so  on  Wednesday  morn- 
ing,   July    10th,  I  went  to  Police  Headquarters, 


222  GEYEB  PLANS  A    CAMPAIGN. 

where  I  met  Cuddy  and  suggested  my  idea  to 
him.  It  was  a  big  task,  yet  it  had  to  be  done,  so 
in  we  started  upon  the  directory, — Cuddy  reading 
off  the  names  while  I  copied  them.  It  took  some 
time  to  prepare  the  list,  and  when  finished  we 
started,  first  going  to  those  who  were  in  the  busi- 
ness portion  of  the  city.  It  took  considerable 
time  to  impress  each  agent  with  the  importance 
of  making  a  careful  search  for  us,  and  before  we 
knew  it,  night  was  upon  us  and  the  real  estate 
offices  were  closed.  Seriously  meditating  as  to 
the  best  method  to  pursue  to  arouse  the  citizens 
of  Toronto,  I  then  determined  to  meet  the  news- 
paper men,  give  them  my  views  of  the  case  and 
explain  to  them  my  theories,  so  that  the  matter 
would  be  brought  before  the  public,  and  the  story 
of  the  disappearance  of  the  children  read  in  every 
household  in  the  city.  That  night  I  was  besieged 
by  a  number  of  reporters  who  called  at  my  room 
in  the  Rossin  House.  I  gave  them  the  whole 
story,  and  told  them  I  was  prepared  to  let  them 
have  the  photographs  of  Holmes  and  the  children, 
and  would  esteem  it  a  favor  if  they  would  publish 
them.  I  also  requested  them  to  call  the  attention 
of  real  estate  agents  and  private  renters  to  the 
matter,  so  that  if  any  person  had  rented  a  house 


THE  SEARCH  REWARDED.  223 

under  such  circumstances  as  I  described,  I  would 
be  glad  to  have  them  communicate  with  me.  The 
next  morning  every  newspaper  published  in  Tor- 
onto, devoted  several  columns  to  the  story  of  the 
disappearance  of  the  children,  and  requested  all 
good  citizens  to  forward  any  information  they 
might  have  to  Police  Headquarters,  or  to  me  at 
the  Rossin  House. 

Thursday  morning,  July  11th,  Detective  Cuddy 
and  I  continued  our  search  among  the  real  estate 
agents.  We  found  a  majority  of  them  prepared 
to  meet  us,  for  they  had  read  the  morning  papers 
and  our  task  was  thus  facilitated  very  much.  In 
the  afternoon,  we  decided  to  visit  several  suburban 
towns,  known  as  Mimico  and  North  and  South 
Parkdale,  so  away  we  went  singing  the  same  old 
story  to  each  and  every  agent  we  came  across. 
However,  we  kept  fighting  on,  hoping  against 
hope,  with  no  word  or  sign  of  encouragement. 
Another  day  went  by  and  there  was  not  the  slight- 
est clue  to  give  us  a  grain  of  comfort.  On  our 
return  to  Police  Headquarters,  we  received  word 
that  a  man  giving  the  name  of  Holmes  had  rented 
a  house  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city, — a  house  that 
stood  in  the  middle  of  a  field,  and  was  surrounded 
by  a  board  fence  six  feet  high.     This  house  was 


224  THE  HOUSE  IN  A    FIELD. 

situated  at  Perth  and  Bloor  Streets.  We  wanted 
nothing  more,  and  away  we  journeyed.  We  found 
the  house  situated  as  already  described,  and  occu- 
pied by  an  aged  couple  with  a  son  about  twenty 
years  old.  After  introducing  ourselves  as  officers, 
we  ascertained  from  the  old  gentleman,  that  they 
had  only  lived  there  a  few  months,  and  did  not 
know  who  occupied  the  house  tlie  previous  Octo- 
ber. We  explained  to  them  our  suspicions  and 
said  that  we  believed  that  Holmes  had  murdered 
the  children,  and  had  buried  them  somewhere 
under  the  house.  "  That  accounts  for  that  pile  of 
loose  dirt  under  the  main  building,"  said  the  old 
man.  "  Get  a  shovel "  was  Cuddy's  suggestion, 
so  the  old  man  led  the  way  to  show  us  how  we 
could  get  under  the  house,  while  the  young  man 
went  in  search  of  a  shovel.  He  soon  returned, 
and  taking  off  our  coats,  we  crawled  into  a  small 
hole  and  were  soon  underneath  the  floor  of  the 
main  building.  The  floor  was  not  more  than  two 
feet  above  the  earth,  and  it  did  not  take  us  long 
to  discover  what  the  old  gentleman  meant  by  the 
pile  of  loose  dirt.  As  it  was  getting  dark,  we  le- 
quested  that  some  light  be  furnished.  The  boy 
crawled  out  from  under  the  floor  and  in  a  short 
time  we  had  several  coal  oil  lamps  burning  and 


THE  SEARCH   REWARDED,  225 

commenced  digging,  feeling  positive  that  we 
would  unearth  the  children.  A  hole  was  dug 
about  four  feet  square,  when  it  was  decided  to 
give  it  up  for  the  night  and  return  the  next  morn- 
ing. Friday  morning,  July  12th,  I  called  at  Police 
Headquarters  and  met  Cuddy,  and  proposed  to 
him  that  we  go  and  see  the  agent  who  rented  the 
house  Perth  and  Bloor,  and  see  if  he  could  iden- 
tif}^  tlie  photograph  of  Holmes  as  the  man  who 
had  rented  the  house.  The  agent  was  not  a  very 
early  riser,  consequently  our  patience  was  taxed 
in  waiting  for  him.  However,  when  he  came  and 
looked  at  the  picture,  he  said  that  it  was  not  the 
man.  Again  were  we  disappointed,  and  the  bal- 
ance of  the  day  was  spent  at  the  Grand  Trunk 
Depot,  in  trying  to  ascertain  if  there  had  been 
any  half  tickets  sold  on  the  morning  of  the  25th 
of  October  from  Toronto  to  Suspension  Bridge. 
The  ticket  agent  treated  us  very  courteously,  and 
examined  his  records  and  found  that  on  that  day, 
there  had  been  only  one  whole  ticket  sold  for 
Niagara  Falls,  or  Suspension  Bridge.  In  answer 
to  a  question,  whether  a  conductor  would  take  a 
whole  ticket  for  two  children,  he  said  he  would, 
so  we  were  unable  to  say  positively  that  Holmes 
had  not  sent  the  girls  to  the  Suspension  Bridge  to 


m 


226  GEYEB  VISITS  FBESCOTT  AND  NIAGARA  FALLS. 

meet  Minnie  Williams,  as  he  claimed  to  have 
done, — he  going  as  far  as  Parkdale.  We  then 
endeavored  to  learn  through  the  freight  office, 
what  amount  of  baggage  was  shipped  to  Prescott, 
Canada,  on  the  night  of  the  25th  of  October  and 
the  morning  of  the  26th.  We  learned  that  two 
pieces  had  been  sent  there  on  the  night  of  the 
25th,  and  one  piece  on  the  morning  of  the  26th. 
This  corresponded  with  the  amount  of  baggage 
carried  by  Holmes  and  Mrs.  Pitezel,  and  con- 
vinced me  that  Prescott  was  the  place  they  had 
gone  to,  and  in  the  event  of  not  meeting  with  suc- 
cess in  Toronto,  I  determined  that  Prescott  would 
be  my  next  stopping  place.  As  Flolmes  had  left 
the  Walker  House  on  the  afternoon  of  October 
20th,  and  his  whereabouts  from  that  time  until 
the  afternoon  of  the  21st  not  being  known,  I  was 
impressed  with  the  belief  that  he  had  taken  his 
wife  to  Niagara  Falls  ;  so  on  Saturday  morning, 
July  ]3th,  I  concluded  that  I  would  go  tliere  and 
see  if  I  could  locate  them,  and  if  so,  ascertain 
whether  the}^  had  the  children  with  them.  Tak- 
ing the  boat  to  Lewistown,  and  from  there  the 
trolley  cars,  I  arrived  at  Niagara  Falls,  (Canada 
side)  about  eleven  A.  M.,  and  began  a  search 
among  the  hotels,  and  in  a  short  time  my  labor 


THE  SEARCH  REWARDED.  227 

was  rewarded  bj  locating  them  at  King's  Imperial 
Hotel,  where  they  arrived  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
20th,  and  left  on  the  afternoon  of  the  21st.  There 
were  no  children  with  them,  and  they  had  evi- 
dently gone  there  simply  to  view  the  Falls.  I  re- 
turned to  Toronto  and  visited  a  number  of  the 
newspaper  offices  for  the  purpose  of  examining 
their  files,  and  made  a  list  of  private  renters  who 
advertised  their  houses  to  rent,  as  I  intended  to 
call  upon  every  one  of  them  in  person.  I  was  so 
positive  that  Holmes  had  disposed  of  the  children 
in  Toronto,  that  I  could  not  think  of  leaving, 
until  I  had  made  a  more  extended  search.  Tliat 
evening  I  met  Cuddy,  and  we  discussed  our  plans 
for  Monday  morning. 

Sunday,  July  14th,  was  devoted  to  writing  home 
and  to  meditating  over  the  case,  and  the  probable 
chances  of  success. 

Monday  morning,  July  15th,  I  went  to  Police 
Headquarters  and  joined  Cuddy,  He  appeared  to 
be  somewhat  more  cheerful  than  usual,  and  when 
I  suggested  that  we  would  start  out  and  search 
among  the  private  renters,  he  informed  me  that 
they  had  received  another  report  about  a  man 
who  had  rented  a  house  on  St.  Vincent  Street, 
whose    description    corresponded     with    that   of 


228  BACK  IN  TORONTO. 

Holmes,  and  he  suggested  that  we  run  this  clue 
out  before  doing  anything  else.  Notwithstanding 
his  fine  spirits,  he  remarked  that  he  guessed  it 
would  prove  to  be  a  wild  goose  chase,  similar  to 
the  many  that  we  had  already  enjoyed.  In  look- 
ing over  the  newspaper  files,  I  discovered  that 
there  was  a  house  to  rent  at  No.  16  St.  Vincent 
Street  and  to  inquire  of  Mrs.  Frank  Nudel,  at  No. 
54  Henry  Street.  Detective  Cuddy  was  person- 
ally acquainted  with  Mr.  Frank  Nudel,  who  is 
connected  with  the  Educational  Department  of 
Toronto,  and  he  suggested  that  we  stop  and  see 
him  before  going  to  the  St.  Vincent  Street  house. 
We  found  Mr.  Nudel,  who  told  us  that  his  wife 
was  the  owner  of  the  house  No.  16  St.  Vincent 
Street  and  that  she  had  rented  it  to  a  man  some 
time  last  October,  who  only  occupied  it  for  about 
one  week.  Thanking  him  for  this  information, 
we  started  for  the  St.  Vincent  Street  house,  but 
instead  of  going  to  No.  16,  we  called  at  No.  18  to 
see  an  old  Scotchman  named  Thomas  William 
Ryves,  who  had  notified  one  of  the  inspectors  of 
police  that  a  man  answering  Holmes'  description, 
and  whose  picture  with  the  Pitezel  girls  he  had 
seen  in  the  Toronto  papers,  had  occupied  the 
house  No.   16,  next  to   him,  and   had  told  him  he 


THE  SEARCH  REWARDED.  229 

had  rented  it  for  a  widowed  sister,  who  was  at 
Hamilton,  Ontario,  and  that  he  expected  lier  there 
in  a  few  days.  We  found  Mr.  Rj^ves  a  very 
pleasant  old  man  to  talk  to,  and  after  propound- 
ing the  usual  questions  to  him,  lie  immediately 
recognized  the  photograph  of  Alice,  but  he  was 
not  positively  sure  of  Holmes.  He  said  he  never 
got  a  good  look  at  Nellie  and  could  not  say 
whether  or  not  it  was  her  picture.  He  told  us 
that  the  man  asked  him  to  loan  him  a  spade,  as 
he  wanted  to  arrange  a  place  in  his  cellar  for  his 
sister  to  put  potatoes  in.  He  said  that  the  only 
furniture  that  was  brought  to  the  house  was  an 
old  bed  and  mattress,  and  a  big  trunk.  The 
trunk  was  taken  away  from  the  house,  but  the  bed 
and  mattress  were  left  there.  By  this  time  we 
had  heard  sufficient  to  convince  us  that  we  were 
on  the  right  track,  and  bidding  the  old  gentleman 
good  day,  we  requested  him  to  meet  us  again  at 
his  house  in  one  hour.  We  lost  no  time  in  going 
to  Mrs.  Nudel's  house,  and  ringing  the  bell  the 
summons  was  answered  by  her  daughter.  We 
asked  if  Mrs.  Nudel  was  at  home  and  received  an 
answer  in  the  affirmative ;  "  Tell  her,"  I  said, 
"  we  want  to  see  her  at  once,  it  is  very  impor- 
tant."    We  were  requested  to  take  a  seat  in  the 


230  SPADES  ARE   TRU3IP. 

parlor,  and  in  a  few  minutes  Mrs.  Nuclei  made  her 
appearance,  and  without  giving  her  a  cliance  to 
say  much,  I  produced  the  pliotograph  of  Holmes, 
and  asked  her  if  she  had  ever  seen  the  original  of 
that  picture.  Mother  and  daughter  both  looked 
at  it  at  the  same  time,  and  answered  together, 
"  Why,  yes,  that  is  the  man  who  rented  the  St. 
Vincent  Street  house  last  October  and  only  occu- 
pied it  for  a  few  days."  Mrs.  Nudel  said  the 
man  represented  that  he  wanted  it  for  a  widowed 
sister,  who  was  coming  on  from  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan. This  seemed  too  good  to  be  true,  and  our 
anxiety  to  examine  the  house  was  so  great,  that 
we  hurriedly  thanked  her  and  left.  We  at  once 
returned  to  No.  18  St.  Vincent  Street  where  we 
met  Mr.  Ryves  anxiously  awaiting  for  our  return. 
Requesting  him  to  loan  us  a  shovel,  he  went  into 
the  house  and  came  out  with  the  same  spade  he 
had  loaned  to  Holmes.  We  rang  the  bell  at  No. 
16  St.  Vincent  Street.  The  door  was  opened  by 
the  lady  of  the  house,  a  Mrs.  J.  Armbrust.  Mr. 
Ryves  introduced  us  and  told  her  we  would  like 
to  go  into  the  cellar.  She  kindly  consented  and 
ushered  us  back  into  the  kitchen.  Lifting  a  large 
piece  of  oilcloth  from  the  floor,  we  discovered  a 
small  trap  door,  possibly  two  feet  square  in  about 


THE  SEARCH  REWARDED.  231 

the  centre  of  the  room.  Raising  this,  I  discovered 
that  the  celhir  was  not  very  deep  but  it  was  very 
dark,  so  I  asked  Mrs.  Armbrnst  to  kindly  provide 
us  with  some  himps.  In  a  short  time  she  had 
them  ready,  and  down  into  the  cellar  we  went. 
The  cellar  was  very  small,  about  ten  feet  square, 
and  not  more  than  four  and  a  half  feet  in  depth. 
A  set  of  steps  almost  perpendicular  lead  to  it 
from  tlie  old-fashioned  trap  door  in  the  middle  of 
the  kitchen  floor. 

Taking  the  spade  and  pushing  it  into  the  earth, 
so  as  to  determine  whether  it  had  been  lately  dug 
up,  we  finally  discovered  a  soft  spot  in  the  south- 
west corner.  Forcing  the  spade  into  the  earth, 
we  found  it  easy  digging,  and  after  going  down 
about  one  foot,  a  horrible  stench  arose.  This  con- 
vinced us  that  we  were  on  the  right  spot,  and  our 
coats  were  thrown  off,  and  with  renewed  confi- 
dence, we  continued  our  digging.  The  deeper  we 
dug,  the  more  horrible  the  odor  became,  and 
when  we  reached  the  depth  of  three  feet,  we  dis- 
covered what  appeared  to  be  the  bone  of  the  fore- 
arm of  a  human  being.  Throwing  some  dirt  into 
the  hole,  in  order  to  keep  down  the  stench  as 
much  as  possible,  we  left  the  cellar  and  went  into 
the  kitchen,  where  I  had  a  conference  with  Cuddy 


232  FINDING  THE  BODIES  OF  ALICE  AND  NELLIE. 

and  advised  him  to  communicate  with  Inspector 
Stark  and  tell  him  of  our  discovery  and  have  him 
suggest  over  the  telephone  what  undertaker  we 
should  employ  to  remove  the  bodies.  Cuddy  ac- 
quiesced in  what  I  said,  and  we  started  for  the 
nearest  telephone,  which  we  found  in  a  telegraph 
office  on  Yonge  Street,  a  short  distance  from  the 
St.  Vincent  Street  house.  Cuddy  called  up  the 
inspector,  told  him  of  our  discovery,  and  re- 
quested him  to  recommend  an  undertaker  to  take 
charge  of  the  bodies.  The  inspector  after  con- 
gratulating us,  told  us  to  go  to  B.  D.  Humphrey, 
an  undertaker  on  Yonge  Street,  and  make  any 
proper  arrangements  with  him.  We  found  Mr. 
Humphrey  at  his  establishment,  and  requested 
him  to  assist  us  in  the  exhumation  of  the  bodies. 
I  suggested  to  him  to  take  several  pairs  of  rubber 
gloves  with  him,  as  the  bodies  were  in  such  a  state 
of  putrification,  it  would  be  impossible  to  lift  them 
out  of  the  hole  without  them.  We  then  returned 
to  the  St  Vincent  Street  house,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  Humphrey  and  into  the  cellar  we  went  again. 
Mr.  Humphrey  after  preparing  himself  for  the 
task,  jumped  into  the  hole  already  made  by  Cuddy 
and  myself  and  assisted  us  in  the  work.     In  a 


THE  SEARCH  REWARDED.  233 

short  time  we  unearthed  the  remains  of  the  two 
little  girls,  Alice  and  Nellie  Pitezel. 

Alice  was  found  lying  on  her  side,  with  her 
hand  to  the  west.  Nellie  was  found  lying  on  her 
face,  with  her  head  to  the  south,  her  plaited  hair 
hanging  neatly  down  her  back.  While  we  were 
making  preparations  to  lift  them  out  of  the  hole, 
a  messenger  was  dispatched  to  Humphrey's  under- 
taking establishment  to  send  two  coffins  to  No.  16 
St.  Vincent  Street.  In  a  short  *»te  the  wagon 
arrived  and  the  coffins  were  taken  into  the 
kitchen,  and  we  proceeded  to  lift  the  remains  out 
of  the  hole.  As  Nellie's  limbs  were  found  rest- 
ing on  Alice's,  we  first  began  with  her.  We 
lifted  her  as  gently  as  possible,  but  owing  to  the 
decomposed  state  of  the  body,  the  weight  of  her 
plaited  hair  hanging  down  her  back,  pulled  the 
scalp  from  off  her  head.  A  sheet  had  been  spread 
in  which  to  lay  the  remains,  and  after  we  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  it  out  of  the  hole,  it  was  placed 
in  the  sheet,  taken  upstairs,  and  deposited  in  the 
coffin. 

Again  we  returned  to  the  cellar,  and  gently 
lifting  what  remained  of  poor  Alice,  we  placed 
her  in  another  sheet,  took  her  upstairs,  and  placed 
her  in   a  coffin  by  the  side  of  her  sister.     The 


234  THE  ST.   VINCENT  HOUSE  BESIEGED. 

bodies  were  immediately  removed  to  Mr.  Humph- 
rey's establishment,  after  which  they  were  sent 
to  the  nioigue.  By  this  time  Toronto  was  wild 
with  excitement.  The  news  had  spread  to  every 
part  of  the  city.  The  St.  Vincent  Street  house 
was  besieged  with  newspaper  men,  sketch  artists, 
and  others.  Everybody  seemed  to  be  pleased 
with  our  success,  and  congratulations,  mingled 
with  expressions  of  horror  over  the  discovery 
were  heard  everywhere. 

I  then  telegraphed  the  first  result  of  my  search 
to  District  Attorney  Graham  and  to  superintend- 
ent of  the  Philadelphia  police,  and  thus  it  was 
proved  that  little  children  cannot  be  murdered  in 
this  day  and  generation,  beyond  the  possibility 
of  discovery. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FORGING   THE   LINKS. 

iSO.  IG  St.  Vinceut  Street — Fair  Without,  a  Charnel  House 
Witluu— Tlie  Little  Wooden  Egg— Clothing  Identified— 
Great  Excitement  in  Toronto — Mrs.  Pitezel  Summoned 
from  Galva,  Illinois — The  Preliminary  Inquest — Arrival 
of  Mrs.  Pitezel — A  Mother's  Anguish — Mrs.  Pitezel  Iden- 
tifies the  Bodies — Mrs.  Pitezel's  Testimony — Testimony 
of  Mr.  Ryves — The  Burial — Mrs.  Pitezel  in  Kind  Hands, 

The  house  where  the  children  were  found,  is  a 
quaint  little  two-story  cottage  of  an  old  and  sim- 
ple style  of  architecture.  It  stands  back  a  few 
feet  from  the  sidewalk, — the  narrow  plot  of  lawn 
in  front  being  enclosed  with  a  wire  net  fence  five 
feet  high  and  beautified  with  a  few  blossoming 
flowers.  A  veranda  tastefully  decorated  Avith  a 
clinging  clematis,  adds  much  to  the  homelike  ap- 
pearance of  the  place.  The  front  doorway  opens 
into  a  hallway,  which  divides  the  house  in  half 
and  continues  to  the  kitchen.  The  cottage  con- 
tains six  medium  sized  rooms,  below,  including  a 
kitchen  and  a  pantry,  three  on  either  side  of  the 

hall,  and  there  are  four  small  rooms  above.     A 

(237) 


238  THE  LITTLE   WOODEN  EGG. 

single  gable  window  looks  from  the  upper  stor}-  to 
the  street.  At  each  end  of  the  house  are  three 
small  windows,  none  of  them  much  larger  than 
the  window  in  the  front.  The  back  yard  is 
small,  and  is  reached  from  the  kitchen  by  a  short 
set  of  steps. 

Feeling  somewhat  fatigued  over  the  day's  work, 
I  determined  to  spend  the  evening  at  the  Rossin 
House  in  writing  to  my  superintendent  and  others, 
and  to  map  out  a  plan  for  the  next  day,  as  our 
work  was  not  completed.  As  the  bodies  were 
badly  decomposed,  personal  identification  might  be 
difficult  and  I  determined  if  possible  to  find  some 
evidence  which  would  aid  in  establishing  tlieir 
identity, — so  I  concluded  to  learn  if  possible,  who 
had  occupied  the  house  after  Holmes  had  left  it. 
The  next  day,  after  meeting  Cuddy  at  police 
headquarters,  we  started  off  to  find  the  tenant 
who  succeeded  Holmes  in  the  St.  Vincent  Street 
house.  We  were  not  long  in  ascertaining,  that 
after  Holmes  had  left,  the  house  had  been  occupied 
by  a  family  named  MacDunald,  who  only  re- 
mained a  very  short  time,  but  no  one  was  able  to 
tell  us  where  they  had  moved  to.  However,  hy 
diligent  search  we  located  them  at  No.  17  Russell 
Street.     We  called  at  their  home,  where  we  met 


FORGING   THE  LINKS,  239 

Mrs.  MacDonald  and  after  introducing  ourselves, 
told  her  the  object  of  our  visit.  She  said  that  all 
she  had  found  at  the  house  No.  16  St.  Vincent 
Street,  was  an  old  bedstead  and  mattress.  I 
then  questioned  her  as  to  whether  she  had  any 
children,  and  she  informed  me  that  she  had  a  boy 
about  sixteen  years  old  whc  was  not  at  home  at 
that  time.  I  requested  her  to  send  him  to  police 
headquarters  as  soon  as  he  arrived  home,  and 
bring  with  him  anything  he  had  found  in  the  St. 
Vincent  Street  house.  Bright  and  early  the  next 
morning  young  MacDonald,  appeared  at  police 
headquarters  with  a  little  wooden  egg,  which 
when  parted  in  the  middle,  would  disclose  a 
snake,  which  would  spring  oat.  He  said  he  had 
found  this  egg  in  a  small  leather  caba,  in  one  of 
the  closets  on  the  second  floor.  I  had  been  sup- 
plied with  a  list  of  the  playthings  the  children  had 
with  them,  and  one  can  imagine  my  surprise  and 
elation  when  I  found  in  this  list,  a  description  of 
just  such  an  egg  as  the  MacDonald  boy  found. 
It  was  one  of  the  links  which  contributed  to  mak- 
ing the  identification  sure.  Another  link  in  this 
chain  was  supplied  by  Mrs.  Armboust.  The 
children  were  found  buried  in  a  nude  condition, 
and  the  manner  in  which  their  clothing  had  beao 


240  CLOTHING  IDENTIFIED. 

disposed  of  was  one  of  the  points  of  my  inquiries. 
A  part  of  a  waist,  and  wliat  appeared  to  be  a 
piece  of  ribbon  were  found  when  the  children 
were  exhumed.  When  Mrs.  Armbrust  was  clean- 
ing the  house  after  moving  in,  she  noticed  some 
rags  and  straw  hanging  from  the  chimney  in  the 
north  front  room.  These  she  pulled  down  and 
found  a  part  of  a  striped  waist  of  a  graj^ish  color, 
a  piece  of  a  woolen  garment  of  brownish  red,  and 
a  part  of  a  dress  of  bluish  color.  The  straw  had 
been  lit  but  had  not  burned,  as  the  clothing  had 
been  shoved  into  the  chimney  too  tightly.  A 
pair  of  girl's  button  boots  were  found  in  the  wood 
box  ;  also  one  odd  boot  and  other  parts  of  the 
clothing  of  a  female.  All  this  had  been  thrown 
away  by  Mr.  Armbrust,  but  they  answered  the 
description  of  the  clothing  worn  by  the  Pitezel 
girls,  given  by  their  mother. 

The  missing  trunk  had  not  been  forgotten  dur- 
ing all  this  time,  and  it  was  frequently  spoken  of 
by  Cuddy  and  myself.  After  having  heard  from 
Mr.  Ryves,  that  a  large  trunk  had  been  brought 
to  the  house,  the  idea  suggested  itself  to  us,  that 
possibly  Holmes  might  have  murdered  the  boy  in 
Detroit,  placed  him  in  the  trunk,  and  shipped 
him  to  the  St.  Vincent  Street  house  to  dispose  of 


FORGING   THE  LINKS.  241 

the  body.  I  determined  if  such  were  the  case, 
not  to  leave  Toronto  until  I  had  satisfied  myself 
on  this  point, — consequently  we  employed  sev- 
eral men  to  dig.  up  every  inch  of  the  entire  cellar 
and  we  thoroughly  examined  the  barn  and  out- 
houses, but  without  result. 

The  finding  of  the  bodies,  as  I  have  said  before, 
caused  great  excitement  in  Toronto,  and  if  the 
good  people  of  that  city  had  been  furnished  with 
an  opportunity,  I  am  sure  they  would  have  made 
sliort  shrift  of  Holmes.  Preparations  were  made 
for  the  inquest,  which  was  to  be  conducted  by 
Coroner  Johnston,  and  in  the  meantime  I  was  re- 
ceiving dispatches  from  District  Attorney  Gra- 
ham, of  Philadelphia,  regarding  Mrs.  Pitezel,  who 
was  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  and  whom  he  had  in- 
structed to  go  to  Toronto,  Canada,  to  meet  me, 
and  if  possible  identify  the  children. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  July  16th,  Coroner  Johns- 
ton summoned  a  number  of  jurors  to  be  present 
at  the  morgue  that  evening  at  half-past  seven 
o'clock,  also  requesting  my  attendance  there  at 
the  same  hour.  This  was  to  be  the  preliminary 
inquest  to  view  the  bodies. 

7:30  P.  M.  we  all  appeared  at  the  morgue,  and 
Coroner  Johnston  opened  the  inquest,  after  which 


242  GREAT  EXCITEMENT  IX  TOROXTO. 

the  jury  was  sworn.  Then  the  superintendent 
of  the  morgue  was  sent  for  and  everything  being 
ready,  the  coroner  directed  the  jury  to  examine 
the  bodies.  In  the  dead  house  they  went,  but  I 
assure  you  that  their  stay  was  a  very  limited  one, 
as  the  odor  from  the  decomposed  remains  was  un- 
bearable, and  Coroner  Johnston  adjourned  the  in- 
quest until  Wednesday  evening,  July  17th,  to  be 
held  in  the  Police  Court,  City  Hall.  On  Wednes- 
day evening  I  attended  the  inquest  and  was  re- 
quested to  recite  the  story  of  Holmes,  and  the  in- 
surance swindle,  and  the  disappearance  and  the 
finding  of  the  children.  I  was  kept  on  the  wit- 
ness stand  about  two  hours  and  a  half,  and  then 
after  hearing  several  other  witnesses,  the  investi- 
gation was  adjourned  to  await  the  arrival  of  Mrs. 
Pitezel.  Thursday  morning,  July  18th,  I  re- 
ceived a  dispatch  from  her,  stating  that  she  had 
left  Chicago  and  was  on  her  way  to  Toronto.  I 
watched  all  incoming  trains  during  the  day,  and 
at  7:30  P.  M.  I  again  went  to  the  Grand  Trunk 
Depot,  and  was  surprised  to  see  so  many  people 
there.  This  was  due,  however,  to  the  fact  that 
Mrs.  Pitezel  had  been  interviewed  by  a  number 
of  newspaper  men  before  leaving  Chicago,  and 
they  had  wired  her  time  of  departure  for  Toronto 


FORGING    THE  LINKS.  243 

to  the  Toronto  papers.  Shortly  after  my  arrival 
at  the  station,  the  Canadian  Pacific  train  from 
Chicago  came  in,  and  I  observed  Mrs.  Pitezel 
getting  off  the  car.  I  had  a  difficult  task  to  make 
my  way  through  the  crowd  to  reach  her,  but  as 
quickly  as  possible  I  placed  her  in  a  carriage  and 
took  her  to  the  Rossin  House,  where  I  had  made 
arrangements  to  have  her  placed  in  a  room  oppo- 
site my  own,  and  I  requested  that  no  one  should 
disturb  her.  Mrs.  Pitezel  reached  her  room  in  an 
absolutely  prostrated  condition.  The  cliamber- 
raaid  had  very  kindly  volunteered  to  render  her 
such  assistance  as  was  possible,  and  after  apply- 
ing restoratives,  she  soon  revived  sufficiently  to 
talk  to  me.  Amid  her  tears  and  moans,  she  said, 
"  Oh,  Mr.  Geyer,  is  it  true  that  you  have  found 
Alice  and  Nellie  buried  in  a  cellar  ?  "  I  did  all  I 
could  to  calm  her,  and  told  her  to  prepare  for  the 
worst.  She  told  me  that  she  would  try  to  bear 
up  with  it  and  would  do  the  best  she  could.  I 
then  told  her  as  gently  as  possible,  that  I  had 
found  the  children,  but  did  not  describe  to  her 
their  horrible  condition,  nor  under  what  circum- 
stances they  were  discovered.  After  remaining 
with  her  a  short  time,  I  asked  several  of  the 
ladies  connected  with  the  hotel  to  visit  her  room 


244  A   3I0THER'S  ANGUISH. 

and  say  a  comforting  word  to  her,  which  they  did, 
and  it  seemed  to  have  a  good  effect  upon  her. 

Frida}^  morning,  July  19th,  I  knocked  at  Mrs. 
PitezeVs  door,  and  I  found  that  she  had  improved. 
She  said  she  had  not  slept  very  well,  but  felt 
somewhat  rested.  I  then  left  her  and  told  her 
I  would  go  out  and  make  arrangements  for  tak- 
ing her  to  the  morgue  during  the  day  to  look  at 
the  children.  I  then  went  to  Police  Headquarters 
and  met  Cuddy,  after  which  we  called  at  Coroner 
Johnston's  house.  He  informed  us  that  he  would 
have  the  bodies  so  arranged  that  we  could  bring 
the  mother  to  look  at  them  at  four  o'clock  that 
afternoon.  Cuddy  and  I  then  returned  to  the 
hotel,  where  every  care  that  human  forethought 
could  suggest,  had  been  taken  to  prepare  Mrs. 
Pitezel  for  the  awful  task  necessity  imposed  upon 
her.  I  told  her  that;  it  would  be  absolutely  im- 
possible for  her  to  see  anything  but  Alice's  teeth 
and  hair,  and  only  the  hair  belonging  to  Nellie. 
This  had  a  paralyzing  effect  upon  her  and  she  al- 
most fainted.  At  -i  P.  M.  we  had  a  carriage  at 
the  Rossin  House,  and  I  informed  her  that  we 
were  ready  to  proceed  to  the  morgue.  In  a  few 
minutes  she  was  ready,  and  after  supplying  our- 
selves with  brandy  and  smelling  salts,  we  started 


FORGING   TEE  LINKS.  245 

for  the  morgue,  where  we  found  a  number  of  cu- 
rious people  on  the  outside  awaiting  our  arrival. 
Mrs.  Pitezel  was  seated  in  the  waiting  room, 
while  I  went  into  the  dead  house  to  see  that 
everything  was  in  readiness,  before  we  conducted 
her  in. 

I  found  that  Coroner  Johnston,  Dr.  Caven  and 
several  of  his  assistants,  had  removed  the  putrid 
flesh  from  the  skull  of  Alice ;  the  teeth  had  been 
nicely  cleaned  and  the  bodies  covered  with  can- 
vas. The  head  of  Alice  was  covered  with  paper, 
and  a  hole  sufficiently  large  had  been  cut  in  it, 
so  that  Mrs.  Pitezel  could  see  the  teeth.  The 
hair  of  both  children  had  been  carefully  washed 
and  laid  on  the  canvas  sheet  which  was  covering 
Alice.  Coroner  Johnston  said  that  we  could  now 
bring  Mrs.  Pitezel  in.  I  entered  the  waiting 
room  and  told  her  we  were  ready,  and  with  Cuddy 
on  one  side  of  her,  and  I  on  the  other,  we 
entered  and  led  her  up  to  the  slab,  upon  which 
was  lying  all  that  remained  of  poor  Alice.  In  an 
instant  she  recognized  the  teeth  and  hair  as  that 
of  her  daughter,  Alice.  Then  turning  around  to 
me  she  said,  "Where  is  Nellie?"  about  this  time 
she  noticed  the  long  black  plait  of  hair  belonging 
to  Nellie  lying  in  the  canvas.     She  could  stand  it 


246       3rRS.    PITEZEL    IDENTIFIES   THE   BODIES. 

no  longei",  and  the  shrieks  of  that  poor  forlorn 
creature  are  still  ringing  in  my  ears.  Tears  were 
trickling  down  the  cheeks  of  strong  men  who 
stood  about  us.  The  sufferings  of  the  stricken 
mother  were  beyond  description.  We  gently  led 
her  out  of  the  room,  and  into  the  carriage.  She 
returned  to  the  Rossin  House  completely  over- 
come with  grief  and  despair,  and  had  one  fainting 
spell  after  another.  The  ladies  in  the  hotel  visited 
her  in  her  room  and  spoke  kindly  to  her,  and  ex- 
pressed their  sympathy  with  her  in  her  sad  be- 
reavement and  this  seemed  in  a  measure  to  ease 
her  mind.  At  7  P.  M.,  I  received  word  from 
Coroner  Johnston,  that  if  it  were  possible,  he 
would  like  to  have  Mrs.  Pitezel  attend  the  in- 
quest that  evening  and  give  her  testimony. 
While  I  did  not  think  she  was  in  a  fit  condition 
to  leave  the  hotel,  I  communicated  to  her  what 
Dr.  Johnston  had  said,  and  she  said  she  thought 
she  would  be  able  to  go  and  get  through  with  it. 
About  7:30  P.  M.  I  called  a  carriage  and  we  started 
for  the  City  Hall,  where  I  gave  Mrs.  Pitezel  in 
charge  of  the  matron  and  then  went  into  the 
court  room  and  informed  Coroner  Johnston  that 
Mrs.  Pitezel  was  ready  to  testify.  He  requested 
me  to  bring  lier  into  the  room,  whereupon  Detect- 


FORGING   THE  LINKS.  247 

ive  Cuddy  and  I  led  her  in  and  placed  her  on  a 
seat  beside  the  Coroner,  and  in  a  few  moments, 
after  taking  the  necessary  oath,  she  began  her 
story.  For  two  hours  and  a  half  this  poor  woman 
was  kept  on  the  stand  and  prodded  with  all  kinds 
of  questions.  So  weak  did  she  become,  that  at 
times  her  voice  was  inaudible,  and  several  times 
we  feared  she  would  totally  collapse.  Finally  the 
Crown's  Assistant  Attorney  thought  he  had  heard 
enough  and  consented  to  allow  her  to  leave  the 
stand.  She  was  returned  to  the  matron's  j'oom 
and  was  scarcely  there,  when  she  became  hyster- 
ical, and  her  shrieks  for  Alice,  Nellie  and  How- 
ard, could  have  been  heard  a  block  away.  Sev- 
eral doctors  present  at  the  inquest  immediately 
prescribed  for  her,  and  after  working  with  her 
about  one  hour,  we  got  her  in  a  condition  to  move 
her  to  a  hole..  The  matron  at  the  City  Hall  was  a 
professional  nurse,  and  volunteered  to  accompany 
Mrs.  Pitezel  to  the  hotel  and  remain  with  her 
during  the  night,  if  I  so  desired  it.  I  was  only 
too  willing  to  have  her  join  us  and  render  the 
poor  woman  all  the  assistance  and  sympathy  pos- 
sible. I  sent  for  a  carriage  and  we  returned  to 
the  hotel,  where  Mrs.  Pitezel  spent  a  terrible 
night. 


248  TESTIMONY  OF  MR.    EWES. 

The  story  as  revealed  by  the  witnesses  at  the  in- 
quest was  very  clear,  after  it  had  been  unravelled. 
Holmes  and  his  wife  had  left  Detroit  on  October 
18th,  arriving  in  Toronto  the  same  day,  register- 
ing at  the  Walker  House  as  G.  Howell  and  wife, 
Columbus.  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  Dessie  and  the  baby, 
left  Detroit  the  same  day,  but  two  hours  later, 
registering  at  the  Union  House  under  the  name  of 
Mrs.  C.  A.  Adams  and  daughter. 

Alice  and  Nellie  left  Detroit  the  following  day, 
October  19th.  Holmes  met  them  at  the  Grand 
Trunk  Station  and  turned  them  over  to  George 
Dennis,  a  hotel  porter,  who  took  them  by  direc- 
tion of  Holmes  to  the  Albion  Hotel,  where  they 
remained  until  the  morning  of  October  25th. 
Holmes  called  for  the  girls  on  the  morning  of  the 
20th  and  returned  them  to  the  hotel  about  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  and  this 
he  repeated  every  morning  and  evening  except 
Sunday  until  the  morning  of  the  25th,  when  he 
took  them  away  finally,  for  they  did  not  return. 
He  paid  for  their  board  every  morning  and  the 
last  payment  was  made  on  the  25th. 

On  October  20th  Holmes  rented  the  house  No. 
16  St.  Vincent  Street  of  Mrs.  Christiana  Niidel, 
and  said  he  wanted  it  for  his  widowed  sister,  who 


FORGING    THE  LINKS.  249 

was  coming  from  Detroit.  He  rented  the  house 
for  six  months,  at  ten  dollars  for  the  first  month, 
and  twelve  dollars  per  month  for  the  remainder  of 
the  term.  He  took  the  key  and  went  awa}^ 
Mrs.  Nudel  heard  nothing  more  until  nearly  the 
end  of  the  month,  when  she  learned  that  the  house 
was  empty,  and  that  the  key  liad  been  left  with 
Mr.  Ryves,  the  next  door  neighbor. 

Mr.  Ryves  saw  the  little  girls  on  the  veranda  of 
the  house  and  once  in  the  yard.  He  saw  Holmes 
there.  Holmes  told  him  different  stories.  The 
first  day  he  met  him  he  said  he  was  renting  the 
house  for  a  sister  who  was  coming  from  Hamilton. 
He  said  she  had  a  family  of  four  children,  and 
that  he  would  board  with  them  as  he  had  secured 
a  situation  in  Toronto.  He  brought  a  trunk  with 
him  first,  and  later  on  a  mattress  and  bedstead 
Avere  brought  and  remained  on  tlie  veranda  for 
two  days.  Tiie  day  Ryves  saw  the  girls  in  the 
yard,  Holmes  came  over  and  borrowed  a  spade 
from  him,  saying  that  lie  was  going  to  fix  a  place 
ill  the  cellar  to  hold  potatoes.  He  borrowed  the 
spade  about  four  or  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
and  returned  it  between  eight  and  ten  o'clock 
the  next  morning,  handing  it  over  the  fence  to 
Mr.  Ryves.     Mr.  Ryves  never  saw  the  girls  again 


250  TESTBIONY  OF  3IB.    EYVE8. 

after  seeing  them  in  the  yard.  The  day  after 
Holmes  returned  the  spade,  he  came  to  the  house 
and  removed  the  trunk,  and  left  the  key  with  Mr. 
Ryves.  The  latter  went  into  the  house  the  next 
day  and  into  the  cellar  to  look  where  the  potatoes 
were  to  go  and  he  found  fresh  earth  scattered 
around  the  bottom  of  the  cellar  and  some  loose 
boards  lying  on  top.  Mrs.  Pitezel  identified  the 
little  wooden  egg  as  a  trinket  which  Alice  had, 
and  which  she  used  to  carry  in  a  little  leather 
caba. 

Nothing  could  be  more  surprising  than  the  ap- 
parent ease  with  which  Holmes  murdered  the  two 
little  girls  in  the  very  centre  of  the  city  of  To- 
ronto, without  arousing  the  least  suspicion  of  a 
single  person  there.  It  startles  one  to  realize  how 
such  a  hideous  crime  could  be  committed  and  de- 
tection avoided.  Surely  if  the  investigation  and 
search  for  the  children  had  not  been  made  by 
the  Philadelphia  authorities,  these  murders  would 
never  have  been  discovered,  and  Mrs.  Pitezel 
would  have  gone  to  her  grave  without  knowing 
whether  her  children  were  alive  or  dead.  This 
was  the  one  consolation  she  had  in  the  very  dark- 
est hour  of  her  life.  She  knew  the  fate  of  her 
unfortunate  daughters— the  mystery  of  their  dis- 


FORGING   THE  LINKS.  251 

appearance  had  been  solved,  and  the  only  remain- 
ing problem  was  the  discovery  of  her  little  son, 
Howard.  She  could  not  believe  he  was  dead,  and 
clung  fondly  to  the  hope  that  he  would  ultimately 
be  found  alive. 

Holmes  was  successful  in  maintaining  the  same 
conditions  in  Toronto,  as  he  had  in  Detroit.  Mrs. 
Pitezel  was  at  the  Union  Hotel,  and  Alice  and 
Nellie  at  the  Albion,  although  each  party  was  ig- 
norant of  the  proximity  of  the  other. 

On  the  afternoon  of  July  19th,  1895,  the  re- 
mains of  the  little  girls  were  buried  in  St.  James' 
cemetery,  the  expense  being  borne  by  the  author- 
ities of  Toronto.  It  was  a  sad  scene.  In  the 
meantime  I  received  orders  from  District  Attor- 
ney Graham  to  return  to  Detroit  and  resume  my 
search  for  the  boy  Howard.  I  left  Toronto,  Sun- 
day, July  20th,  (in  company  with  Mrs.  Pitezel) 
and  arrived  in  Detroit  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day.  Mrs.  Pitezel  did  not  stop  in  Detroit, 
but  continued  on  to  Chicago  in  charge  of  some 
good  women,  of  a  Christian  Endeavor  Society, 
who  volunteered  to  see  to  her. 

I  had  finished  a  part  of  my  task,  and  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  other  part  now  confronted  me. 
Where   was   the   boy    Howard?     Had    he    been 


252  FORGING    THE  LINKS. 

placed  in  some  institution,  as  Holmes  had  inti- 
mated his  intention  of  doing,  or  was  he  hidden  in 
some  obscure  i)lace  beyond  reach  or  discovery  ? 
Was  he  alive  or  dead?  I  was  puzzled,  non- 
plussed, and  groping  in  the  dark.  I  could  not 
turn  back, — I  was  directed  to  go  on,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  do  so,  hoping  that  patience  and  persist- 
ent hard  work  might  finally  lead  me  to  the  light. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

HOW   TO   FIND   THE   BOY. 

Geyer  Agaia  iu  Detroit — Where  is  Howard  Pitezel  ?— Did  He 
Leave  Detroit  Alive? — Reviewing  the  Evidence — Another 
Search  at  No.  241 E,  Forest  Avenue — Geyer  Does  Some  Hard 
Thinking — Review  of  Holmes'  Movements — Copy  of  Letter 
From  Alice  to  Her  Grandparents,  Found  iu  the  Possession 
of  Holmes — Its  Pitiable  Tale — Holmes'  Fiendish  Treat- 
ment of  Both  Mother  and  Children — A  Friend  Warns 
Holmes  to  Leave  Detroit — The  Murder  of  the  Children 
Postponed — The  Furnace  Theory. 

About  5  P.  M.  I  went  to  the  Detroit  Police 
Headquarters,  where  I  met  Detective  Meyler,  who, 
after  congratulating  me  upon  my  success  in  To- 
ronto, informed  me  that  the  Superintendent  would 
not  be  in  his  office  until  the  following  morning. 

That  Sunday  evening  I  spent  in  recounting  to 
Meyler  the  story  of  finding  the  girls,  after  which 
I  retired  for  the  night. 

Monday  morning,  July  22d,  I  reported  at  Police 
Headquarters  and  met  Superintendent  Stark- 
weather, who  agaiu  detailed  Detective  Tuttle  to 
assist  me  in  Detroit.  I  decided  to  go  over  with 
greater  care,  the  evidence  which  proved  Howard 
to    have    been  seen  in   Detroit,  and   called   with 

Tuttle  on  Mr.  Frank  R.  Alderman,  the  manager 
15  (255) 


256  REVIEWING    THE  EVIDENCE. 

of  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Association  for  Mich- 
igan. When  the  case  was  first  investigated  by 
the  detectives  of  the  insurance  company,  Mr. 
Boninghausen,  the  real  estate  agent  who  rented 
No.  2-11  E.  Forest  Avenue  to  Holmes,  said  that 
the  latter  was  accompanied  by  a  small  boy,  but 
when  I  called  upon  him  again,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Alderman,  he  declared  that  he  had  no  abso- 
lutely positive  recollection  of  the  matter,  but  that 
Mr.  Moore,  who  subsequently  rented  the  same 
house,  had  said  that  he  had  noticed  a  boy  with 
Holmes.  This  knocked  out  one  of  the  supports  of 
the  Detroit  theory,  and  we  then  sought  out  Mr. 
Moore  and  found  him  at  No.  241  E.  Forest  Avenue. 

Mr.  Moore  said  that  he  had  never  been  positive 
about  the  presence  of  the  boy  with  Holmes.  Sev- 
eral persons  with  children  were  in  Mr.  Boning- 
hausen's  office  at  the  time,  and  he  said  he  tliovght 
one  of  them,  a  small  boy,  was  with  Holmes,  but 
he  was  not  sure. 

At  this  time  we  made,  with  Mr.  Moore's  per- 
mission, another  thorough  search  of  the  premises, 
No.  241  E.  Forest  Avenue,  including  the  barn,  out- 
houses and  yard,  and  I  felt  fully  convinced  that 
if  the  boy  had  been  murdered  there,  his  body  had 
been  consumed  in  the  large  furnace  of  the  house. 


HOW  TO  FIND   TEE  BOY.  257 

We  then  went  to  the  Wabash  railroad  station 
to  ascertain  the  number  of  half  tickets,  which  ar- 
rived from  Chicago  at  11:15  P.  M.,  on  October 
12th,  1894.  An  effort  was  made  to  find  the  can- 
celled tickets  of  this  date  and  train,  but  they  had 
all  been  destroyed.  I  was  still  very  much  at  sea 
about  Howard,  and  I  did  some  very  hard  thinking 
on  the  subject.  Time  and  time  again  I  reviewed 
the  facts  known  to  me.  Holmes  arrived  in 
Detroit  on  the  evening  of  October  12th.  He  sent 
the  girls  into  the  station  and  told  them  to  remain 
there  and  wait  for  him.  He  then  rejoined  his 
wife,  (who  was  also  with  him,  but  ignorant  of  the 
presence  of  the  children)  and  took  her  to  the 
hotel.  He  then  left  his  wife  and  returned  to  the 
station  and  took  the  girls  to  the  New  Western 
Hotel,  where  they  were  registered  as  Etta  and 
Nellie  Canning.  The  next  day,  the  13th,  he 
moved  them  to  a  boarding  house  kept  by  Mrs. 
Lucinda  Burns,  No.  91  Congress  Street.  At  this 
house  Alice  wrote  a  letter  to  her  grandparents, 
which  she  gave  to  Holmes  to  post,  and  which  he, 
as  usual,  omitted  to  do.  This  was  one  of  the  let- 
ters found  in  the  possession  of  Holmes  when  he 
was  arrested. 


258   H0L3IES'  TREATMENT  OF  MOTHER  AND  CHILD. 

This  letter  was  unsigned,  but  it  was  written  by 
Alice,  because  it  is  in  her  handwriting  and  she  re- 
fers to  her  sister  Nell.  The  letter  enclosed  two 
pages  of  note  paper,  on  which  the  children  had 
made  rude  drawings  of  houses,  one  of  which  bore 
the  caption  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin."  This  was 
copied  from  a  picture  in  Mrs.  Stowe's  book,  which 
the  girls  had.  Under  the  drawing  of  the  cabin 
was  written,  "All  these  pictures  was  drawn  at 
No.  91  Congress  Street,  Detroit,  Mich." 

This  letter  is  dated  October  14th,  1894,  just 
two  days  subsequent  to  their  arrival  in  Detroit, 
and  on  the  very  day  their  mother,  (Mrs.  Pitezel), 
their  sister  Dessie,  and  the  little  baby,  Wharton, 
ariived  in  Detroit,  where  they  were  to  meet  Pite- 
zel, so  Holmes  said.  This  little  party  registered 
at  Geis's  Hotel,  as  Mrs.  C.  E.  Adams  and  daugh- 
ter. Geis's  Hotel  is  not  over  five  blocks  from  No. 
91  Congress  Street,  so  when  this  poor  child  Alice, 
was  writing  to  her  grandparents  to  Galva,  Illinois, 
complaining  of  the  cold,  sending  a  message  to  her 
mother,  asking  for  heavier  and  more  comfortable 
clothing,  wishing  for  little  Wharton,  the  baby 
who  would  help  them  to  pass  away  the  time, — 
while  this  wearied,  lonely,  homesick  child  was 
writing  this  letter,  her  mother  and  her  sister  and 


sow  TO  FIND   THE  BOY.  259 

the  much  wished  for  Wharton,  ivere  ivithin  ten 
minutes  ivalk  of  her^  and  continued  there  for  the 
next  five  days.  More  than  that, — this  unparalleled 
villain  who  had  robbed  the  Insurance  Company  of 
Ten  Thousand  Dollars,  and  in  turn  fraudulently 
secured  Sixty-Seven  Hundred  Dollars  of  the  swag 
from  Mrs.  Pitezel,  was  at  that  very  moment  mak- 
ing arrangements  to  kill  the  girls  and  bury  them 
at  No.  241  East  Forest  Avenue.  The  hole  wliich 
he  had  dug,  (which  he  admitted  he  had  dug  to 
bury  therein,  he  said,  a  tin  box  containing  valu- 
able papers, — a  hole  four  feet  long,  three  and  a 
half  feet  deep  and  three  feet  wide)  was  intended 
as  a  grave  for  the  little  girls.  This  was  the  rea- 
son he  did  not  purchase  them  any  warmer  cloth- 
ing, notwithstanding  it  was  coming  winter.  It 
was  unnecessary  to  spend  any  money  for  clothing, 
when  they  were  to  die  so  soon. 

The  reason  this  plan  was  not  executed  in  De- 
troit, was  because  of  a  notice  he  received  from 
one  of  his  Chicago  friends,  wlio  knew  of  the  in- 
surance swindle  and  from  whom  he  received  a 
friendly  tip,  warning  him  that  detectives  were  on 
his  track.  This  notice  came  to  him  by  telegram 
and  caused  him  to  move  his  field  of  operations  to 
Toronto. 


260  A  FRIEND  WARNS  IIOUIES  TO  LEAVE  DETROIT. 

To  me  the  significant  part  of  this  letter  was  the 
expression,  "  Howard  is  not  with  us  now."  Why 
did  not  Alice  say  to  her  grandpaients  where  tliey 
had  separated  from  Howard?  A  simple  phrase  or 
sentence  would  have  told  the  story.  I  believe 
these  children,  after  leaving  Indianapolis  and 
reaching  Detroit,  the  city  to  which  Holmes  had 
brought  her  mother,  and  sister  and  her  little 
brother,  were  kept  in  a  state  of  fear  or  apprehen- 
sion. The  evident  design  of  Holmes  was  to  keep 
the  children  in  ignorance  of  the  proximity  of 
their  mother  and  he  quite  likely  told  them  that  if 
their  identity  were  discovered,  their  father,  wlio 
was  being  hunted  by  detectives,  would  be  appre- 
hended. They  gave  their  name  as  Canning,  (the 
name  of  their  grandparents)  at  his  suggestion, 
and  kept  close  indoors  just  as  he  advised.  The 
proposed  boat  ride  the}'  speak  of  in  their  letter, 
and  which  was  not  taken  because  the  weather  was 
too  cold,  was  deferred  most  likely  by  their  sup- 
posed friend. 

In  one  of  his  numerous  statements  made  in 
prison  to  various  persons,  and  to  District  Attorney 
Graham,  Holmes  said  he  had  given  Howard  to 
Miss  Williams  in  Detroit,  who  had  taken  him  tu 
Buffalo.     I  did  not  believe  a  word  of  the  Wil- 


HOW  TO  FIND   THE  BOY.  261 

liams  part  of  this  statement,  but  still  my  suspi- 
cion of  Mr.  Holmes'  character  for  truth  and  verac- 
ity did  not  assist  me  in  clearing  up  the  veil  of 
mystery  which  surrounded  the  disappearance  of 
the  little  boy. 

The  hole  in  the  cellar  of  the  Forest  Avenue 
house,  and  the  great  size  of  the  cellar  furnace,  the 
expression  in  the  letter  I  have  quoted,  and  the 
uncertainty  of  Mr.  Moore's  memory  as  to  the 
presence  of  a  boy  in  Boninghausen's  office,  be- 
came the  basis  of  numerous  theories.  One  idea 
clui]g  to  me  tenaciously.  I  could  readily  imagine 
Howard  separated  from  his  sisters  the  night  of 
the  arrival  of  the  party  in  Detroit :  of  Holmes 
taking  him  to  a  quiet  place  until  he  was  wanted  ; 
of  the  renting  of  the  Forest  Avenue  house  and 
the  digging  of  the  hole  ;  of  the  discovery  by 
Holmes  of  the  great  size  of  the  cellar  furnace, 
which  caused  him  to  change  his  proposed  means 
of  disposing  of  the  body  ;  of  the  murder  and  in- 
cineration of  the  corpse  by  the  method  so  readily 
at  hand. 

Nothing  had  ever  been  discovered  in  the  fur- 
nace by  the  new  tenant,  Mr.  Moore,  which  indi- 
cated that  a  body  had  been  consumed  therein, — so 
after  the  fullest  consideration  of  all  that  the  most 


262  THE  FURNACE   THEORY. 

persistent  search  could  reveal,  I  finally  concluded 
that  the  separation  from  Howard  had  taken  place 
prior  to  the  arrival  of  Alice  and  Nellie  i)i  Detroit, 
and  not  after,  and  I  decided  to  search  for  him  else- 
where, and  wired  to  Philadelphia  my  purpose  to 
return  to  Indianapolis. 


-^^^— c-—^^     ^:X^       -^vo---t^-^ 


Fac  Simile  of  Letter  from  Alice  to  her  Grandparents. 


(Found  in  Holmes'  Posession  when  Akricsted.) 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  DETECTIVE  PUZZLED. 

Once  More  in  Indianapolis — Days  of  Fruitless  Work — Every- 
body Willing  to  Aid — Scores  of  People  Suggest  Clues- 
Has  the  Clever  Criminal  Outvpitted  the  Detective? — 
Copies  of  the  Children's  Letters — Keen  Analysis  of  their 
Contents — The  Evidence  of  an  Envelope — Geyer  Ordered 
to  Chicago — Chicago  Police  Dig  up  the  Skeleton  of  a 
Child — The  Skeleton  is  not  Hovrard's — Geyer  Goes  to 
Philadelphia  for  Consultation  and  Rest. 

I  LEFT  Detroit  on  the  afternoon  of  July  23d, 
and  arrived  in  Indianapolis  the  next  morning, 
having  been  delayed  on  the  route  at  Peru,  In- 
diana. I  again  registered  at  the  Spencer  House 
and  lost  no  time  in  going  to  police  headquarters, 
where  I  met  Superintendent  of  Police  Powell,  to 
whom  I  confided  my  purpose  of  resuming  my 
search  for  the  Pitezel  boy  in  Indianapolis.  De- 
tective Richards  was  again  detailed  to  assist  me, 
and  we  at  once  mapped  out  a  plan  of  operations. 
We  procured  a  directory  of  the  city  and  made  a 
list  of  every  real  estate  agent  in  Indianapolis  and 
vicinity  and  commenced  to  interview  every  one  of 

them  with  the  hope  of  finding  a  house  that  had 

(267; 


2{i8  SCOEES  OF  PEOPLE  SUGGEST  CLUES. 

been  rented  early  in  October  of  1894,  to  ii  man 
who  wanted  it  for  a  widowed  sister,  and  wlio  oc- 
cnpied  it  but  a  short  time.  Holmes  had  given 
this  "  widowed  sister "  story  in  Cincinnati,  De- 
troit, and  Toronto,  and  I  believed  he  had  told  the 
same  falsehood  in  Indianapolis. 

Our  search  continued  in  this  manner  for  days, 
yet  I  learned  nothing  which  gave  me  the  least  as- 
sistance in  obtaining  the  clue  for  which  I  was  so 
anxiously  seeking.  The  newspapers  had  published 
columns  of  the  Toronto  story  and  my  return  to 
Indianapolis  was  heralded  abroad  in  conspicuous 
head  lines.  All  of  the  papers  published  pictures 
of  Holmes  and  Howard  Pitezel,  and  it  seemed  as 
though  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  Indiana 
was  alert  and  watchful,  and  aiding  me  in  the  work 
of  finding  the  missing  child. 

Scores  of  citizens  called  upon  me  at  the  Spencer 
House,  making  suggestions  and  giving  me  many 
supposed  clues,  all  of  which  were  faithfully  run 
out.  The  number  of  mysterious  persons  who  had 
rented  houses  in  and  about  Indianapolis  multi- 
plied from  day  to  day,  and  Detective  Richards 
and  I  were  not  permitted  to  rest  a  moment. 
Days  came  and  passed,  but  I  continued  to  be  as 
much  in  the  dark  as  ever,  and  it  began  to  look  as 


THE  DETECTIVE  PUZZLED.  269 

though  the  bold  but  clever  criminal,  had  out- 
witted the  detectives,  professional  and  amateur, 
and  that  the  disappearance  of  Howard  Pitezel 
would  pass  into  history  as  an  unsolved  mystery. 

About  this  time  I  received  a  communication 
from  Assistant  District  Attorney  Barlow,  who 
was  holding  up  the  Philadelphia  end  of  the  line 
with  great  hopefulness  and  patience.  He  sent  me 
an  anal3^sis  of  three  of  the  children's  letters  writ- 
ten from  Indianapolis,  which  threw  more  light 
upon  the  matter,  and  brought  me  more  closely  to 
the  track  of  the  destroyer  of  innocent  children. 
These  three  letters  now  given,  are  exact  copies  of 
the  originals. 

"  Indianapolis,  Ind , 

October  6,  1894. 

Dear  Mamma,  Geandma  and  Grandpa  : — 
We  are  all  well  here.  It  is  a  little  warmer 
to-day.  There  is  so  many  buggies  go  by  that  you 
cant  hear  yourself  think.  I  first  wrote  you  a  let- 
ter with  a  crystal  pen,  but  I  made  some  mistakes 
and  then  I  am  in  a  hustle  because  Mr.  H.  has  to 
go  at  3  o'clock  I  don't  know  where.  It  is  all  glass 
so  I  hafto  be  careful  or  else  it  will  break,  it  was 
only  five  cents.  Mr.  H.  went  to  T.  H.  Indiana 
last  night  again.     Their  was  a  poor  boy  arrested 


270        COPIES  OF  THE  CHILDREN'S  LETTERS. 

yesterday  for  stealing  a  shirt  he  said  he  had  no 
home  the  policeman  said  he  would  buy  him  a  suit 
of  clothes  and  then  send  him  to  a  reform  school. 
The  patrols  are  lots  different  here  than  they  are 
in  St.  Louis  &  Chicago,  they  couldnt  get  away 
if  they  wanted  to.  We  hafto  get  up  early  if  we 
get  breakfast.  We  have  awful  good  dinners 
pie  fruit  and  sometimes  cake  at  supper  and  this 
aint  half.  They  are  all  men  that  eat  at  the  tables 
we  do  not  eat  with  them  we  have  a  room  to  our- 
selves. They  are  dutch  but  they  can  cook  awful 
nice.  Their  is  more  bicycles  go  by  her  in  one  day 
than  goes  by  in  a  month  in  St.  Louis.  I  saw  two 
great  big  ostriges  alive  and  we  felt  of  their 
feathers  they  are  awful  smooth  |  they  are  black 
with  white  tails  they  are  as  big  as  a  horse.  Why 
have  buffaloes  got  big  rings  in  their  noses  for  I 
want  Grandma  and  grandpa  to  write  to  me.  Is 
the  baby  well  and  does  he  like  coco  I  want  you  to 
all  write  why  dont  you  write  mama.  I  will  close 
for  this  time  goodby  wiite 

Yours  truly, 
Nellie  Pitezel 

over 
Alices  ej-es  hurts  so  she  wont  write  this  time. 

Indianapolis  Ind. 

Oct.  6th  1894. 
Dear  Mamma. 

We  are  all  well  except  I  have  got 
a   bad  cold  and  I  have  read  so  much  in  Uncle 


THE  DETECTIVE  PUZZLED.  271 

Tom's  book  that  I  could  not  see  to  write  yester- 
day when  Nell  and  Howard  did.  I  am  wearing 
my  new  (ders)  dress  today  because  it  is  warmer  to 
day.  Nell  Howard  and  I  have  all  got  a  crystal  pen 
all  made  of  glass  five  cents  a  piece  and  I  am  writing 
with  it  now.  I  expect  Grandma  and  Grandpa 
was  awftd  glad  to  see  you.  The  hotel  we  are  stay- 
ing at  faces  right  on  a  big  wide  bulvard  and  there 
is  more  safties  and  bugies  passing  than  a  little  bit 
and  how  I  wish  I  had  a  safty.  Last  Sunday  we  was 
at  the  Zoological  Garden  in  Cincinnati,  O.  And  I 
expect  this  Sunday  will  pass  away  slower  than  I 
dont  know  what  and  Howard  is  two  dirty  to  be  seen 
out  on  the  street  to-day.  Why  dont  you  write  to 
me.  I  have  not  got  a  letter  from  you  since  I  have 
been  away  and  it  will  be  three  weeks  day  after 
tomorrow.  It  is  raining  out  now  quite  hard. 
Nell  is  drawing  now.  The  hotel  is  just  a  block 
from  Washington  Street  and  that  is  where  all  the 
big  stores  are.  There  is  a  shoe  store  there  And 
there  has  been  a  man  painting  every  day  this 
week.  They  give  these  genuine  oil  painting  away 
with  every  $1.00  purchas  of  shoes  with  small 
extra  charge  for  frames.  You  cant  get  the 
pictures  with  out  the  frames  though  I  wish  I 
could  get  one  you  dont  know  how  pretty  they 
are.  We  go  there  every  day  and  watch  him 
paint.  He  can  paint  a  picture  in  IJ  minutes  aint 
that  quick.  Nell  keeps  joring  the  stand  so  I  can 
hardly  write  I  mad  half  a  dozen  mistakes  on  the 


272        COPIES  OF  THE  CHILDREX'S  LETTERS. 

other  side  just  because  she  made  me.  This  letter 
is  for  you  all  because  I  cant  write  to  so  many  of 
you  I  guess  I  have  told  all  the  news  so  good  bye 
love  to  all  and  kisses 

Your  loving  daughter 

E.  Alice  Pitezel. 

P.  O.  Write  soon  Howard  got  a  box  of  col- 
lars and  took  one  out  and  lost  box  and  all  the 
contents. 

Monday  morning. 
Do  Mamma 

J  ust  got  a  letter  from  you  say- 
ing that  the  babe  was  cross  and  Dessa  and 
Grandma  was  sick.  How  is  Grandpa  I  hope  you 
will  all  feel  better  I  thought  you  would  not  be 
home  sick  at  all  when  you  got  there  but  it  seems 
as  though  you  are  awful  homesick  Who  met  you 
at  the  depot  did  you  get  there  Satarday  or  Sun- 
day. I  dont  like  to  tell  you  but  you  ask  me  so  I 
will  have  to.  H.  wont  mind  me  at  all  He  wanted 
a  book  and  I  got  life  of  Gen.  Sheridan  and  it  is 
awful  nice  but  now  he  dont  read  it  at  all  hardly. 
One  morning.  Mr.  H.  told  me  to  tell  him  to  stay 
in  the  next  morning  that  he  wanted  him  and  he 
would  come  and  get  him  and  take  him  out  and  I 
told  him  and  he  would  not  stay  in  at  all  he  was 
out  when  he  came.  We  have  written  two  or 
three  letters  to  you  and  I  guess  you  will  begin  to 
get  them  now  I  will  send  this  with  my  letter  that 


THE  DETECTIVE  PUZZLED.  273 

I  wrote  yesterday  and  didnt  send  off  Hope  you 
will  all  keep  well 

continued 
I  have  just  finished  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  and  it 
is  a  nice  book.  I  wish  I  could  see  you  all.  This 
is  another  cold  day.  We  pay  $12.00  a  week  for 
our  room  and  board  and  I  think  that  is  pretty 
cheap  for  the  good  meals  we  have  Yesterday  we 
had  mashed  potatoes,  grapes,  chicken  glass  of 
milk  each  ice  cream  each  a  big  sauce  disli  full 
awful  good  too  lemon  pie  cake  dont  you  think 
that  is  pretty  good.  They  are  Germans.  I  guess 
I  will  have  to  close  so  good  bye,  love  to  all  and 
kisses.  Write  soon  keep  well 
Yours  Truly 

E.  Alice  Pitezel. 


In  Mr.  Barlow's  view,  these  letters  negatived 
the  statement  made  by  Mr.  Ackelow,  the  proprie- 
tor of  the  Circle  House,  that  the  children  had 
left  that  hotel  on  October  6th.  The  first  letter 
written  by  Nellie,  is  dated  October  6th.  The  next 
letter  written  by  Alice,  is  also  dated  October  6th, 
but  it  was  evidently  written  the  day  after  Nellie 
had  written  her  letter  and  should  have  been  dated 
the  7th. 

"•Alice's  eyes  hurts,"  writes  Nellie,  "so  she 
won't  write  this  time."     "  I  have  read  so  much  in 


274        KEEN  ANALYSIS  OF  THEIR   CONTENTS. 

Uncle  Tom's  book,"  writes  Alice,  "that  I  could 
not  see  to  write  yesterday  when  Nell  and  Howard 
did." 

October  6th  was  on  Saturday,  the  next  day, 
was  of  course,  Sunday,  the  7th.  It  is  quite  evi- 
dent, that  Alice  wrote  on  Sunday,  the  7th,  be- 
cause she  speaks  of  wearing  her  new  dress  ;  that 
slie  expects  "  this  Sunday  to  pass  away  slower 
than  I  don't  know  what,"  that  "  Howard  is  too 
dirty  to  be  seen  out  on  the  street  to  da}-,  etc." 
If  there  is  an}^  doubt  that  this  letter  was  written 
on  Sunday,  October  7th,  it  is  completely  dispelled 
by  the  third  letter  with  its  simple  heading, 
"  Monday  morning,"  without  any  date  affixed  in 
which  she  sjDcaks  of  having  written  tivo  or  three 
letttrs  to  her  mother,  and  "I  will  send  this  with 
my  letter  I  wrote  yesterday  and  didn't  send  off," 
and  that  they  had  ice  cream  and  an  extra  good 
dinner  the  day  before.  This  letter  was  evidently 
written,  Monday,  October  Sth,  and  the  children 
had  evidently  continued  at  the  same  hotel,  the 
Circle  House,  and  had  not  left  it  on  October  6th. 

I  again  interviewed  Mr.  Ackelow  the  Circle 
House  proprietor,  and  examined  the  books  of  the 
hotel  with  greater  care  and  soon  discovered,  that 
the  last  payment  of  their  board  was  made  on  Octo- 


THE  DETECTIVE  PUZZLED.  277 

her  lOtli,  on  which  day  they  had  left.,  and  not  on 
October  Glh,  ;is  first  stated.  As  I  had  ascertained 
to  a  certainty  tliat  the  'cliildren  liad  arrived  in 
Detroit  on  tlie  evening  of  October  12th,  I  found  I 
was  hot  on  the  track,  and  with  only  forty-eight 
hours  to  be  accounted  for.  Howard  had  disap- 
peared in  the  forty  eight  hours,  and  either  in 
Indianapolis,  or  between  that  city  and  Detroit. 
The  Monday  morning  letter  was  of  great  signifi- 
cance in  its  relation  of  Howard's  alleged  misbe- 
havior. "  One  morning  Mr.  H.  told  me  to  tell 
him  to  stay  in  the  next  morning,  that  he  wanted 
him  and  would  come  and  get  him  and  take  him  out 
and  I  told  him  and  he  would  not  stay  in  at  all,  he 
"vas  out  when  he  came.''^  ' 

This  is  precisely  what  Holmes  did  at  the  Albion 
Hotel  in  Toronto;  he  called  for  the  gi7'ls  and  took 
them  out  on  the  morning  of  October  26th,  and  they 
never  returned.  Poor  little  Howard,  if  he  had 
known  the  fate  that  was  in  store  for  him,  he 
would  have  continued  to  stay  out  "  when  he 
came." 

Mr.   Ackelow  told  me  that  Holmes  spoke  of 
Howard  as  a  mischievous  boy  and  hard  to  con- 
trol, and  said  he  intended  placing  him  in  some  in- 
stitution or  in  some  good  home  on  a  farm. 
16 


278  THE  EVIDENCE  OF  AN  ENVELOPE. 

Holmes  told  this  story  so  that  when  Howard 
was  separated  from  his  sisters,  his  disappearance 
would  arouse  neither  curiosity  nor  suspicion.  It 
worked  well  too,  because  neither  Mr.  Ackelow 
nor  any  attache  of  the  hotel  was  able  to  say, 
whether  Howard  left  before  or  at  the  same  time  the 
girls  left. 

Mr.  Barlow  further  informed  me,  that  the  en- 
velope which  had  enclosed  a  letter  written  by 
Alice  to  the  Fidelity  IMutual  Life  Insurance  Asso- 
ciation, thanking  them  for  the  prompt  payment  of 
the  insurance  policy  had  been  mailed  on  October 
11th,  and  was  postmarked  "  Chic.  Richmond  & 
Cin.  R.  P.  O.," — a  government  post  route  between 
Chicago,  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati  and  Detroit. 
Thus  it  appeared  reasonably  certain,  that  the 
party  were  on  a  train  somewhere  between  these 
cities  on  October  11th. 

Thursday  morning,  August  1st,  I  received  a 
telegram  from  District  Attorney  Graham,  direct- 
ing me  to  go  to  Chicago  and  have  an  interview 
with  the  police  authorities  in  the  city,  who  were 
reported  to  have  dug  up  the  skeleton  of  a  child  at 
Holmes'  Block,  No.  701  West  63rd  Street,  Chi- 
cago. That  evening  I  left  Indianapolis  and 
reached  Chicago  the  next  morning  (Friday).     At 


THE  DETECTIVE  PUZZLED.  279 

police  headquarters,  I  met  Chief  Brandenaugh 
and  Inspector  Fitzpatrick,  with  whom  I  had  a 
conference  lasting  several  hours.  I  heard  enough 
to  convince  me  that  they  had  not  found  the  re- 
mains of  Howard. 

Another  telegram  then  reached  me  from  Mr. 
Graham,  requesting  me  to  return  to  Philadelphia 
for  a  consultation,  and  I  immediately  left  on  the 
Pennsylvania  Limited,  arriving  home  the  next 
day  at  4:17  P.  M. 

I  went  direct  to  the  District  Attorney's  office 
in  the  City  Hall,  where  I  was  warmly  greeted  by 
Mr.  Barlow,  who  informed  me  that  I  had  been 
summoned  home  for  a  few  days  rest  and  for  con- 
sultation, and  that  I  was  to  resume  work  in  the 
case  again  as  soon  as  the  preparations  for  a  fresh 
start  were  completed. 

Mr.  Barlow's  confidence  in  our  ability  to  find 
Howard  never  faltered.  The  mere  fact  that  I  had 
searched  every  real  estate  office  in  Indianapolis, 
and  had  for  days  run  out  every  supposed  clue 
presented,  and  had  failed  to  find  even  a  trace  of 
the  boy,  had  no  effect  upon  him.  He  believed 
that  skill  and  patience  would  yet  win,  and  said, 
that  when  Mr.  Graham  and  he  and  I  met  on  Mon- 
day, we  would  consider  further  plans  for  search- 


280  GEYER   GOES  TO  PHILADELPHIA. 

ing  in  Indianapolis  and  vicinity,  and  if  not  success- 
ful there,  then  among  the  junction  towns  between 
Chicago,  Indianapolis,  Cincinnati  and  Detroit. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE  END. 

Consultation  in  the  District  Attorney's  Ofl&ce — Holmes 
Again  Questioned — The  Monumental  Liar  Repudiates 
His  Former  Statement — Introduces  the  Mysterious  Hatch 
— A  Fresh  Start — W.  E.  Gary  Associated  with  Geyer — 
Chicago  Again — The  Janitor  of  the  "Castle"  and  His 
"Wife  Interviewed — Outlying  Towns  Searched  for  Clues — 
Third  Return  to  Indianapolis — Kindness  of  Authorities 
and  Citizens — Nine  Hundred  Clues  Run  Out— Irvington, 
Ind.— The  Veil  About  to  Lift. 

Monday  morning,  August  3d,  I  met  the  Dis- 
trict Attorney  and  his  assistant  in  their  office  in 
the  city  hall,  and  remained  in  consultation  with 
them  the  greater  part  of  the  day.  After  Alice 
and  Nellie  had  been  found  in  Toronto,  Holmes 
had  been  brought  to  the  city  hall  in  Philadelphia 
and  vigorously  examined  in  the  hope  of  securing 
from  him  some  admission  which  would  assist  me 
in  finding  Howard,  but  not  a  word  did  he  say, 
which  threw  a  particle  of  light  upon  the  matter. 
His  former  statement  in  which  he  had  given  with 
great  detail,  the  particulars  of  his  meeting  with 

Miss  Williams,   and  how  he  had  given  Howard 

(281) 


28:3     OUTLYING   TOWNS  SEARCHED  FOR   CLUES. 

into  her  care  in  Detroit,  whence  she  had  taken 
him  to  Buffalo,  he  repudiated,  and  he  now  intro- 
duced the  mysterious  Hatch.  According  to 
Hohnes,  Hatch  was  the  miscreant  who  had  prob- 
ably shed  the  blood  of  innocent  childhood,  and 
not  he,  and  he  was  willing,  he  said,  to  do  all  in 
his  power  to  ascertain  what  this  bad  man  Hatch 
had  done  with  Howard. 

This  examination,  which  had  been  conducted 
by  Mr.  Barlow,  was  fully  related  to  me,  but  we 
obtained  not  a  grain  of  comfort  from  anything 
that  this  king  of  fabricators  had  said. 

The  officers  of  the  insurance  company  now 
took  a  new  grip  on  the  case,  and  expressed  their 
determination  to  hold  on  until  the  mystery  which 
shrouded  the  disappearance  of  the  little  boy  was 
cleared  up,^so  the  preparations  for  a  fresh  start 
included  the  assignment  of  Mr.  W.  E.  Gary,  the 
chief  inspector  of  the  company,  to  accompany  me 
on  the  journey.  This  was  agreeable  news  to  me, 
because  Mr.  Gary  was  not  only  a  pleasant  com- 
panion, but  he  was  able  and  skillful  in  detective 
work,  and  possessed  a  large  stock  of  patience, — 
an  absolutely  essential  element  in  such  a  case  as 
we  had  in  charge. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  August  7th,  we  left 


THE  BEGINNING   OF  THE  END.  283 

Philadelphia  and  went  direct  to  Chicago,  arriving 
the  next  afternoon.  In  company  witii  Inspector 
Fitzpatrick,  we  w^ent  to  the  Harrison  Street  Sta- 
tion and  had  an  interview  with  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Patrick  Quinlan,  who  were  under  arrest  on  suspi- 
cion of  having  been  associated  with  Holmes  in 
alleged  crimes  committed  in  the  Sixty -third  Street 
house,  known  as  the  "  Castle."  Our  object  was 
to  ascertain  if  Holmes  had  taken  the  children  to 
Chicago,  after  leaving  the  Circle  House  in  Indi- 
anapolis on  October  10th.  Both  Quinlan  and  his 
wife  stoutly  maintained  their  ignorance  of  any 
knowledge  of  the  children,  and  I  am  bound  to 
say  I  believed  them. 

On  Sunday,  August  11th,  Mr.  Gary  and  I  left 
Chicago  for  Logansport.  From  Logansport  we 
went  to  Peru,  Indiana,  thence  on  following  days 
to  Montpelier  Junction,  Ohio,  and  Adrian,  Mich- 
igan. In  each  of  these  towns  we  spent  days  in 
searching  among  hotels  and  boarding  houses  and 
in  interviewing  real  estate  agents,  but  all  to  no 
purpose,  and  we  finally  concluded  to  return  to 
Indianapolis  and  settle  there  and  search  until 
District  Attorney  Graham  and  his  assistant,  Mr. 
Barlow,  told  us  to  stop,  or  until  we  had  found  the 
boy.     I  must  <3onfess  that  I  returned  to  Indian- 


284    KINDNESS  OF  A  UTHOBITIES  AND  CITIZENS. 

apolis  in  no  cheerful  frame  of  mind,  and  the  large 
jtock  of  hope  which  I  had  gathered  up  in  the 
District  Attorney's  office  in  the  Philadelphia  City 
Hall  was  fast  dwindling  away.  There  was  noth- 
ing to  do,  however,  but  to  go  at  it  again,  so  head- 
quarters at  the  Spencer  House  was  once  more 
established.  My  confidence  in  our  ultimate  suc- 
cess, was  sustained  at  all  times  by  my  continued 
faith  in  the  Indianapolis  theory.  I  believed  the 
boy  had  been  murdered  in  Indianapolis,  or  in  some 
nearby  town,  but  my  ill  success  in  locating  the 
house,  after  so  much  effort  and  such  wide  pub- 
licity, greatly  annoyed  and  puzzled  me.  The 
mystery  seemed  to  be  impenetrable. 

The  desire  on  the  part  of  the  police  authorities 
of  Indianapolis  to  assist  me  in  the  search,  never 
wavered.  On  this,  my  third  return  to  that  city, 
I  was  greeted  with  the  same  kindness  and  un- 
varying courtesy  I  had  enjoyed  on  the  previous 
occasions.  In  fact,  this  can  truthfully  be  said 
of  the  police  authorities  in  all  the  citi'es  embraced 
within  the  circuit,  from  Cincinnati  to  Toronto, 
where  my  mission  had  taken  me.  Everywhere  I 
found  kind  hearts  and  willing  hands,  ready  to 
assist  me  in  running  to  earth  one  of  the  most  ac- 
complished villains  of  modern  times,  and  if  ancient 


THE  BEGINNING   OF  THE  END.  285 

times  produced  his  equal,  I  have  yet  to  read  of 
him. 

The  Indianapolis  newspapers,  published  an- 
nouncements of  the  renewal  of  the  search  in  that 
city,  and  reports  from  many  kind  and  well  dis- 
posed persons,  of  mysterious  people  who  rented 
houses  for  a  short  time  and  then  disappeared, 
came  pouring  in  again.  Not  a  single  suggestion 
was  unheeded  and  every  report  was  carefully  and 
patiently  investigated.  The  advertisements  of 
private  houses  for  rent  early  in  October  of  1894 
were  listed  and  each  one  visited  and  examined. 
No  less  than  nine  hundred  supposed  clues  were 
run  out.  We  then  commenced  a  search  of  the 
small  towns  just  beyond  the  city  of  Indianapolis, 
and  finally  finished  the  work  in  all,  except  Irving- 
ton.  About  this  time  I  wrote  a  letter  to  District 
Attorney  Graham,  repeating  to  him  all  that  I  had 
reported  almost  daily  to  Superintendent  of  Police 
Linden,  and  concluded  by  saying :  "  By  Monday 
we  will  have  searched  every  outlying  town,  ex- 
cept Irvington,  and  another  day  will  conclude 
that.  After  Irvington,  I  scarcely  know  where  we 
shall  go."  On  Tuesday  morning,  August  27th, 
we  took  the  trolley  line  for  Irvington,  a  most 
beautiful  town,  about  six  miles  from  Indianapolis. 


286  NINE  HUNDRED   CLUES   RUN  OUT. 

As  there  are  no  hotels  in  the  town,  we  decided  to 
look  up  the  real  estate  agents.  A  short  distance 
from  wliere  the  cars  stop,  I  noticed  a  sign  of  a 
real  estate  office,  and  in  we  went.  Opening  up  a 
package  of  papers  and  photographs  which  I  had 
carried,  and  which  I  had  untied  and  tied  over  a 
thousand  times,  until  it  had  become  soiled  and 
ragged  from  wear,  I  asked  a  pleasant  faced  old 
gentleman  who  greeted  us  as  we  entered  the 
office,  if  he  knew  of  a  house  in  his  town,  which 
had  been  rented  for  a  short  time  in  October  of 
1894,  by  a  man  who  said  he  wanted  it  for  a  wid- 
owed sister.  I  then  handed  him  a  photograph  of 
H.  II.  Holmes.  The  old  gentleman  who  proved  to 
be  Mr.  Brown  quietly  listened,  and  then  adjusting 
his  glasses  took  a  long  look  at  the  photograph. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  remember  a  man  who  rented 
a  house  under  such  circumstances  in  October  of 
1894,  and  this  picture  looks  like  him  very  much. 
I  did  not  have  the  renting  of  the  house,  but  I  had 
the  keys,  and  one  day  last  fall,  this  man  came  into 
my  office  and  in  a  very  abrupt  way  said,  I  want 
the  keys  for  that  house.  I  remember  the  man 
very  well,  because  I  did  not  like  his  manner,  and 
I  felt  that  he  should  have  had  more  respect  for 
my  gray  hairs." 


THE  BEGINNING   OF  TEE  END.  287 

While  the  good  old  man  was  talking,  Mr.  Gary 
and  I  stood  still.  When  he  had  finished,  we 
looked  at  each  other  and  sat  down.  We  had 
found  the  clue  at  last. 

All  the  toil ;  all  the  weary  days  and  weeks  of 
travel, — toil  and  travel  in  the  hottest  months  of 
the  year,  alternating  between  faith  and  hope,  and 
discouragement  and  despair,  all  were  recompensed 
in  that  one  moment,  when  I  saw  the  veil  about  to 
lift,  and  realized  that  we  were  soon  to  learn  where 
the  poor  little  boy  had  gone  with  Holmes,  "  when 
he  came." 

"  Truth,  like  the  sun,  submits  to  be  obscured 
but  like  the  sun,  only  for  a  time." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

"WHEN  HE   CAME." 

A  Warm  Trail— The  One  and  a  Half  Story  Cottage— Search- 
ing the  Cellar — Broken  Trunk  Under  the  Piazza — A  Strip 
of  Blue  Calico — Amateur  Detectives — Finding  the  Charred 
Eemains — The  Boy's  Coat — Geyer  Has  a  Good  Night's 
Eest. 

Mk.  Gary  and  I  did  not  remain  seated  very- 
long.  Mr.  Brown  offered  to  take  us  to  Dr. 
Thompson,  the  former  owner  of  the  house,  and  we 
thankfully  accepted  his  invitation.  Dr.  Thomp- 
son's office  was  near  by  and  when  we  entered, 
Mr.  Brown  introduced  us  as  two  detectives  from 
Philadelphia  in  search  of  one  of  the  Pitezel  chil- 
dren. The  doctor  at  once  recognized  the  photo- 
graph of  Holmes  and  identified  him  as  the  man 
who  had  rented  the  house  he  formerly  occupied. 
He  said  further  that  a  boy  in  his  employ,  named 
Elvet  Moorman,  had  seen  Holmes  and  a  little  boy 
he  had  with  him  at  the  time.  A  messenger  was 
dispatched  for  Elvet,  and  the  instant  he  saw 
Holmes'  photograph  he  said  :  "  Why  tliat  is  the 

man  who  lived  in  our  house,  and  who  had  the  small 

(289) 


290  SEARCHING   THE  CELLAR. 

boy  with  him."  He  also  recognized  Howard's 
picture  as  that  of  the  boy  whom  he  had  seen  at 
the  house  with  Hohnes.  Our  anxiety  to  get  to 
the  house  and  to  search  the  premises  can  be  im- 
agined. We  asked  the  doctor  to  show  us  the 
way.  On  our  arrival  at  the  house,  I  found  it  to 
be  a  one  and  a  half  story  cottage,  standing  some 
little  distance  from  Union  Avenue,  in  the  extreme 
eastern  part  of  the  town.  Across  the  street  is  a 
Methodist  church  and  two  hundred  yards  to  the 
south  are  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  tracks.  The 
house  stands  in  a  secluded  place,  and  there  are  no 
other  houses  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  To 
the  west  is  a  small  grove  of  young  catalpa  trees, 
and  to  the  east  is  a  large  common.  There  are  two 
roads  leading  to  the  street  cars  which  run  into  In- 
dianapolis. 

On  entering  the  house,  we  searched  the  cellar 
first.  I  found  it  divided  into  two  apartments, — 
the  rear  having  a  cement  floor  and  evidently  in- 
tended for  a  wash  room  and  the  front  having  a 
clay  floor,  but  as  hard  as  flint.  It  was  quite  evi- 
dent that  there  had  been  no  disturbance  of  the 
floor  in  the  cellar,  and  so  we  decided  to  make  a 
search  on  the  outside.  To  the  right  wing  of  the 
house  is  attached  a  small  piazza,  with  open  lattice 


"  WHEN  HE  CA3IE."  201 

work  under  the  floor.  In  looking  through  this 
lattice  work,  I  discovered  the  broken  remains  of  a 
trunk.  It  took  but  a  moment  to  remove  the 
steps  leading  up  to  the  piazza  floor,  and  crawling 
under  I  brought  out  what  proved  to  be  a  strong 
piece  of  evidence  against  the  distinguished  crim- 
inal who  was  sitting  in  his  cell  in  the  Philadelphia 
County  prison,  and  wondering  how  near  I  had  set 
my  feet  on  his  tracks.  When  I  brought  out  the 
piece  of  the  trunk,  I  discovered  that  a  strip  of 
blue  calico  had  been  pasted  along  the  side  seam 
and  evidently  intended  to  repair  and  cover  it. 
The  calico  was  about  two  inches  wide,  and  had 
printed  on  it  the  figure  of  a  white  flower.  I  felt 
sure  that  I  had  found  at  least  a  portion  of  one  of 
the  trunks  that  had  given  me  so  much  anxiety, 
and  I  was  very  careful  to  see  that  it  was  deposited 
in  a  safe  place  for  future  use  as  evidence.  I  ob- 
served, under  the  piazza,  that  the  earth  had  been 
disturbed,  and  procuring  a  shovel  dug  very  deeply 
to  ascertain  if  a  body  had  been  buried  there,  but 
no  evidence  of  that  nature  was  discovered.  We 
then  turned  our  attention  to  the  barn  and  other 
outhouses.  In  the  barn  I  found  a  large  coal 
stove,  called  the  "  Peninsular  Oak,"  and  some 
other  articles  of  furniture. 


292  A   STRIP  OF  BLUE  CALICO. 

The  stove  was  three  and  a  half  feet  high,  and 
about  twenty-two  inches  in  diameter, — the  entire 
top  working  upon  a  pivot.  On  the  top  I  found 
what  appeared  to  be  blood  stains.  We  then  ex- 
amined the  floor  of  the  barn  and  the  grounds 
about  the  house,  and  wherever  we  discovered  a 
soft  spot  in  the  earth,  we  dug  deeply  to  see  if  a 
body  was  buried  there. 

By  this  time,  several  hundred  people  had  gath- 
ered about  the  house,  seriously  interfering  with 
our  operations,  but  all  expressing  great  sympathy 
with  us  in  our  work,  and  as  it  was  almost  evening 
I  decided  to  defer  a  further  search  until  the  fol- 
lowing day.  I  ascertained  also  that  the  house 
had  been  rented  by  an  agent  in  Indianapolis  by 
the  name  of  J.  S.  Grouse  and  I  wanted  to  see  him 
before  the  sun  went  down.  Mr.  Gary  and  I  then 
took  the  trolley  car  into  Indianapolis  and  called 
at  once  upon  Mr.  Grouse.  I  learned  that  the 
house  had  been  rented  to  a  man  who  wanted  it 
for  his  widowed  sister  by  the  name  of  Mrs.  A.  E. 
Gook,  who  intended  to  open  a  boarding  house. 
He  paid  one  month's  rent  in  advance,  and  was 
never  seen  again.  When  I  produced  the  plioto- 
graph  of  H.  H.  Holmes,  it  was  promptly  identi- 
fied as  that  of  the  man  who  had  rented  the  house. 


The  Spade  with  which  Holmes  Buried  Alice  and  Nellie 
JN  the  Cellar 


"  WHEN  HE  came:'  295 

As  Holmes  had  registered  at  the  Hotel  Bristol  in 
Cincinnati  as  A.  E.  Cook  and  three  children,  I 
felt  certain  that  I  was  working  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. 

After  leaving  the  real  estate  office,  I  sent  the 
following  telegram  to  Mrs.  Pitezel,  Galva,  Illi- 
nois: 

"  Did  missing  trunk  have  a  strip  of  blue  calico, 
white  figure  over  seam  on  the  bottom."  To  this 
telegram  I  received  the  following  reply : 

"  Yes,  missing  trunk  had  a  strip  of  blue  calico 
white  figure  on  the  bottom." 

Cakrie  a.  Pitezel. 

While  I  was  at  the  telegraph  office,  I  received 
a  telephone  from  the  Indianapolis  Evening  News 
Office,  requesting  me  to  call  there  without  delay. 
At  the  news  office  I  met  Mr.  Brown,  their  city 
editor,  who  told  me  that  Dr.  Barnhill  the  partner 
of  Dr.  Thompson  was  on  his  way  from  Irvington 
and  that  he  had  something  of  importance  to  com- 
municate to  me,  and  that  I  should  wait  for  him. 
The  doctor  arrived  in  a  few  moments  and  opened 
a  small  package  containing  several  pieces  of 
charred  bone,  which  he  declared  were  a  portion  of 
the  femur  and  skull  of  a  child  between  eight  and 
twelve  years  old.     The  piece  of  the  skull  showed 

17 


296  AMATEUR  DETECTIVES. 

the  sutures  plainly.  Dr.  Barnhill  then  explained 
that  after  Mr.  Gary  and  I  had  left  the  Irvington 
house,  he  and  Dr.  Thompson  had  continued  the 
search.  They  were  accompanied  by  two  boys, 
Walter  Jenny  and  Oscar  Kettenbach.  One  of 
the  boys  suggested  that  they  should  play  detective 
and  they  went  together  into  the  part  of  the  cellar 
having  a  cemented  floor,  and  in  which  there  was 
a  chimney  which  extended  above  the  roof  of  the 
house.  In  the  chimney  was  a  pipe  hole  about 
three  feet  six  inches  from  the  floor.  Young 
Jenny  put  his  arm  in  the  opening  and  pulled  out 
a  handful  of  ashes,  among  which  was  one  of  the 
pieces  of  bone,  which  Dr.  Barnhill  brought  to  me. 
The  boys  continued  to  bring  out  ashes  and  pieces 
of  bone  and  then  ran  and  called  the  doctors,  who 
soon  determined  the  character  of  the  discovery. 

This  information  induced  me  to  return  to  the 
house  that  evening,  and  upon  our  arrival,  we 
found  the  entire  neighborhood  assembled  there. 
I  requested  the  Marshall  of  Police  who  was  pres- 
ent to  clear  the  house,  which  he  did  in  short  or- 
der. The  doctors  and  several  members  of  the 
Press  were  then  admitted,  and  we.  proceeded  to 
the  cellar,  and  with  hammer  and  chisel  I  took 
down  the  lower  part  of  the  chimney.     I  then  took 


"WBEN  HE  came:'  297 

an  old  fly  screen  which  I  found  in  the  house,  and 
used  it  as  a  sieve,  and  as  the  ashes  and  soot  were 
taken  from  the  chimney,  I  passed  it  through  the 
screen  and  found  an  ahiiost  complete  set  of  teeth 
and  a  piece  of  the  jaw,  which  I  turned  over  to 
Dr.  John  Quiucy  Byram,  a  dentist,  for  examina- 
tion. At  the  bottom  of  the  chimney  was  found 
quite  a  large  charred  mass,  which  upon  being  cut, 
disclosed  a  portion  of  the  stomach,  liver  and 
spleen,  baked  quite  hard.  The  pelvis  of  tlie  body 
Avas  also  found.  All  this  was  handed  to  Dr. 
Barnhill  for  examination. 

In  tlie  chimney  we  also  found  some  of  the  iron 
fastenings  which  belonged  to  the  trunk,  some 
buttons,  a  small  scarf  pin,  and  a  crochet  needle. 
Upon  searching  for  outside  evidence,  we  found  a 
boy's  coat  in  possession  of  a  grocer  in  Irvington. 
The  grocer  said  that  early  in  October,  of  1894  a 
man  called  at  his  store  and  left  the  coat  with  him, 
saying  that  a  boy  would  call  for  it  the  next  morn- 
ing, but  the  boy  never  came.  Thoroughly  con- 
vinced that  we  had  found  all  that  remained  of  lit- 
tle Howard  Pitezel,  we  returned  to  Indianapolis 
and  at  once  repaired  to  the  City  Hall  where  we 
had  a  consultation  with  Superintendent  of  Police 
Powell. 


298  GEYER  HAS  A   GOOD  NIGHT'S  BEST. 

The  superintendent  advised  us  to  see  the  cor- 
oner, Dr.  Castor,  a  suggestion  which  we  acted 
upon  the  next  day. 

That  night  I  enjoj-ed  the  best  night's  sleep  I 
had  had  in  two  months.  I  was  sure  that  my  work 
was  complete,  and  as  I  fell  into  an  easy  slumber, 
I  thought  that  after  all,  the  business  of  searching 
for  the  truth  was  not  the  meanest  occupation  of 
man.  It  is  the  manner  in  which  it  is  searched 
for  that  sometimes  makes  it  ignoble. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   CHAIN   COMPLETE. 

A  Coroner's  Inquest  Again — Mrs.  Pitezel  Summoned  from 
Galva,  111.— Identifies  the  Piece  of  Trunk— Identifies  the 
Clothing  and  Toys — Moorman's  Testimony — Other  Perti- 
nent Testimony— Surgical  Instruments  Sharpened— Thanks 
for  Generous  Aid — Return  to  Philadelphia — This  Monster 
Must  be  Punished. 

The  day  following  our  discoveries  at  the  Ir- 
vington  house,  we  were  requested  by  the  Sheriff 
of  the  county  in  which  Irvington  is  situated,  to 
appear  before  the  Grand  Jury.  This  request  we 
complied  with,  and  we  recited  the  whole  Holmes - 
Pitezel  story  to  that  body. 

The  coroner,  Dr.  Hiram  A.  Castor,  held  an  in- 
quest. To  this  sad  scene,  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  jigaiii 
summoned.  She  had  hoped  to  the  last  that  her 
little  son  had  been  placed  in  some  institution,  or 
in  the  care  of  some  person  in  a  secluded  part  of 
the  country. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Holmes  declared 
this  to  be  his  purpose  to  Mr.  Ackelow,  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  Circle   House,  and  Mrs.  Pitezel  al- 

(299) 


300  MOORMAN'S  TESTIMONY. 

ways  clung  to  the  hope  that  Howard  would  ulti 
mately  be  found  alive.  The  Irvington  revelation 
came  to  her,  therefore,  with  all  the  force  of  a 
dreadful  shock  and  it  was  a  great  tax  on  her 
strength  to  leave  Galva  again  and  make  another 
sad  journey  to  Irvington. 

She  identified  the  overcoat  found  at  the 
grocer's,  as  Howard's.  She  had  repaired  it  in  a 
number  of  places  and  sewed  a  new  pocket  in  it, 
and  had  no  difficulty  in  proving  the  identification. 
The  piece  of  trunk  was  easily  recognized,  because 
of  the  strip  of  calico  which  her  father  had  pasted 
along  the  bottom.  A  little  spinning  top  and  a  tin 
man,  which  Pitezel  had  bought  for  Howard  at  the 
World's  Fair  and  which  I  had  found  in  the  house, 
were  also  identified.  Mrs.  Pitezel  had  placed 
them  in  the  trunk  herself  at  the  time  of  the  de- 
parture of  Holmes  with  Nellie  and  Howard  from 
St.  Louis.  A  little  scarf-pin  and  a  pair  of  shoes 
she  also  identified  as  Howard's,  and  a  crochet 
needle  that  belonged  to  her  daughter  Alice. 
These  had  all  been  found  in  the  Irvington  house. 

Elvet  Moorman  testified  that  he  went  over  to 
the  house  one  afternoon  early  in  October  of  1894 
and  saw  a  transfer  wagon  with  furniture  unload- 
ing, and  a  man  and  a  boy  assisting  in  transferring 


THE  CHAIN  C03IPLETE.  301 

the  articles  to  the  house.  Later  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  same  day  he  went  over  to  milk  a  cow  that 
was  kept  in  the  barn,  connected  with  the  house. 
While  he  was  milking,  the  man  who  was  with  the 
boy,  came  to  him  and  asked  him  to  assist  him  in 
putting  up  a  stove,  which  he  did.  Moorman 
asked  the  man  why  he  did  not  make  a  gas  connection 
(for  natural  gas)  and  use  a  gas  stove,  and  the  man 
said  that  he  did  not  think  gas  ivas  healthy  for  chil- 
dren. A  photograph  of  Holmes  was  shown  the 
witness  and  he  identified  it  as  the  man  whom  he 
had  assisted  in  putting  up  the  stove.  He  also 
said  that  the  photograph  of  Howard  Pitezel  shown 
him,  was  that  of  the  boy  he  had  seen  with 
Holmes,  and  who  was  present  when  the  stove  was  put 
up.  He  also  said  that  after  Holmes  and  the  boy 
disappeared,  he  had  examined  the  house  and 
found  a  lot  of  corn  rubbish  on  the  floor  that 
seemed  to  indicate  that  a  fire  had  been  made  with 
corn  cobs. 

Dr.  Byram,  a  dentist,  identified  the  teeth  and 
portion  of  the  jaw  as  those  of  a  child  between  the 
ages  of  eight  and  eleven  years,  and  Dr.  Barnhill 
declared  the  bones  found  to  be  portions  of  a 
skeleton  of  a  child  between  the  ages  of  seven  and 
ten  years.     The  large  portion  of  charred  remains 


302         SURGICAL  INSTBU2IENTS  SHARPENED. 

found,  contained  the  liver,  the  stomach  and  por- 
tions of  the  intestines. 

Albert  Schiffling  testified  that  he  keeps  a  repair 
shop  at  No.  48  Virginia  Avenue,  Indianapolis. 
On  the  3d  of  October,  a  man,  whom  he  identified 
as  Holmes,  came  into  his  shop  accompanied  by  a 
small  boy.  Holmes  had  two  cases  of  surgical  in- 
struments, which  he  wanted  sharpened.  He  re- 
turned for  the  instruments  on  October  8th,  paid 
for  the  repairs  and  took  them  away.  Other  testi- 
mony and  identifications  of  Holmes  and  Howard 
were  heard,  but  all  in  corroboration  of  the  evi- 
dence which  I  have  briefly  stated.  Dr.  Byram, 
the  dentist,  very  cleverly  and  skillfully  mounted 
the  teeth  on  wax  jaws,  which  exhibited  their 
character  and  their  age  most  admirably,  and  Doc- 
tors Barnliill  and  Thompson,  made  a  very  exhaus- 
tive and  scientific  report  of  the  other  contents  of 
the  chimney  which  had  been  found,  and  the 
coroner's  jury  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  tjjat  lit- 
tle Howard  Pitezel  had  come  to  his  death  at  the 
hands  of  H.  H.  Holmes. 

Our  work  being  done,  we  visited  the  City  Hall 
and  thanked  Superintendent  Powell  and  his  as- 
sistants for  their  kind  and  courteous  treatment 
during  our  stay  in  Indianapolis.     In  fact  we  were 


THE  CHAIN  C03IPLETE.  303 

grateful  to  everybody,  for  we  had  received  from 
all  citizens  the  most  generous  and  unselfish  aid  in 
tlie  performance  of  our  task, — so  bidding  farewell 
to  our  many  friends,  we  left  for  Philadelphia,  ar- 
riving home  Saturday,  September  1st. 

The  District  Attorney  and  his  Assistant,  Mr. 
Barlow  and  I  had  a  happy  meeting.  They,  like 
myself,  had  been  giving  to  the  case,  the  days  and 
weeks  of  a  summer  of  almost  unprecedented  heat 
and  we  all  rejoiced  over  the  success  and  end  of  the 
search. 

Much  remained,  however,  to  be  done.  The 
greatest  of  criminals  had  yet  to  be  brought  to  an- 
swer for  his  foul  deeds.  All  that  had  been  un- 
earthed, would  count  for  but  little,  if  this  wretch 
were  permitted  to  elude  the  firm  grasp  of  the  law 
or  to  avoid  a  punishment,  not  such  as  he  deserved, 
but  that  which  is  provided  under  the  orderly 
forms  of  legal  procedure,  and  we  then  and  there 
fully  and  freely  consecrated  the  best  that  was  in 
us,  to  the  consummation  of  that  great  end. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

JUSTICE   CRIED    "AMEN." 

The  Trial — Desperate  Fight  for  Postponement — Application 
for  Postponement  Refused — Holmes  Dismisses  his  Coun- 
sel— Holmes  Conducts  His  Own  Case — Holmes'  Shrewd- 
ness— Playing  for  Sympathy — Holmes'  Lawyers  Re-enter 
the  Case — Mrs.  Pitezel's  Heart  Breaking  Narrative — The 
Murderer  Unmoved — Testimony  of  Miss  Yoke — Holmes 
Cross-examines  the  Woman  He  had  Foully  Wronged — Ad- 
missions of  Prisoner's  Counsel — Testimony  of  Physicians 
— The  Worthless  Note — How  Holmes  Deluded  Mrs. 
Pitezel — All  Doubts  Dispelled — Murder  in  the  First  De- 
gree— Press  and  People  Congratulate  Prosecutors  and 
Detective. 

Herman  W.  Mudgett,  alias  H.  H.  Holmes, 

was  indicted  on  the day  of  September,  1895, 

by  the  grand  jury  of  Philadelphia  County,  for  the 
murder  of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel  on  September  2, 

1894.     On    September   1895,   the    prisoner 

was  arraigned  and  entered  a  plea  of  "not  guilty," 
and  in  answer  to  the  question  propounded  to  him 
by  the  crier  of  the  court,  "  Pleading  not  guilty, — 
How  will  you  be  tried  ? "  He  answered,  "  By 
God  and  my  country." 

Upon  this  occasion  he  was  represented  by  two 

(305) 


30G      DESPERATE  FIGHT  FOR  P0STP0NE3IENT. 

young  attorneys,  who  had  been  advising  him 
since  his  incarceration  in  the  county  prison  in 
November  of  1894,  and  one  of  whom  assisted  in 
his  trial  for  conspiracy  in  June  of  1895.  They 
had  visited  him  in  prison,  scores  of  times  and  were 
familiar  with  every  point  and  detail  of  his  case. 
The  officers  of  the  commonv\^ealth  had  been  grop- 
ing in  the  dark,  following  this  clue  and  then  that, 
but  his  own  attorneys  were,  or  should  have  been 
in  the  broad  light  of  knowledge  of  all  that  Holmes 
knew  concerning  Pitezel  and  his  fate,  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  children.  After  the  entry  of  the 
plea  of  "  not  guilty  "  by  the  prisoner,  and  issue 
had  been  joined  between  him  and  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania,  the  District  Attorney 
asked  the  court  to  fix  a  day  for  the  trial.  He 
suggested  that  a  time  be  set  so  remote,  that  ample 
opportunity  should  be  given  for  the  prisoner,  as 
well  as  for  the  commonwealth  to  23repare  for  the 
great  contest  which  should  decide  the  guilt  or  in- 
nocence of  the  accused.  The  court  then  stated 
to  all  parties,  that  the  trial  should  take  place  on 
Monday,  October,  28th,  five  weeks  distant,  and 
gave  notice  to  both  sides  to  be  prepared.  In  spite 
of  this  notice,  when  the  day  fixed  arrived,  Octo- 
ber 28th,  the  prisoner  and  his  counsel  made  one 


JUSTICE  CRIED ''A3IEN."  307 

of  the  most  desperate  fights  for  postponement 
ever  witnessed  in  a  criminal  trial. 

One  of  the  city  newspapers  said :  "  It  was  not 
that  the  struggle  was  long,  or  conducted  with  any- 
fine  display  of  legal  generalship,  but  it  was  fierce, 
painful  and  impressive  while  it  lasted,  suggesting 
the  wild  mad  cries  and  writhings  of  a  murderer, 
already  condemned  and  battling  with  inexorable 
jailers  on  the  way  to  the  scaffold." 

The  application  for  a  postponement  was  refused, 
thereupon  counsel  asked  permission  to  withdraw 
from  the  case.  This  was  also  refused, — the  Court 
reminding  counsel,  that  they  had  represented  the 
prisoner  for  many  months,  and  had  ample  time 
for  the  preparation  of  the  trial.  Counsel  then 
had  a  consultation  with  the  prisoner,  and  returned 
to  the  bar  of  the  court  with  the  astounding  state- 
ment that  the  prisoner  had  dismissed  them  from 
the  case,  and  that  he  had  declared  it  to  be  his 
purpose  to  conduct  his  own  defense.  The  court 
then  warned  counsel  not  to  leave  the  case,  even 
in  the  face  of  a  dismissal  by  the  prisoner,  and 
directed  them  to  proceed  and  defend  their  client. 
This  the  attorneys  refused  to  do,  and  they  left 
the  court  room.  The  Hon.  Michael  Arnold,  who 
presided  at  this  trial,  is  not  only  a  good  lawyer 


308  HOLMES  CONDUCTS  HIS  OWN  CASE. 

and  a  wise  judge,  but  lie  is  conspicuous  for  his 
abundant  stock  of  good  common  sense,  so  not- 
withstanding the  desertion  of  the  attorneys  for 
the  defence,  he  directed  the  case  to  proceed. 
Then  followed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  scenes 
ever  witnessed  in  a  court  room.  The  prisoner,  on 
trial  for  his  life,  cross- questioned  each  juror  as  he 
appeared  for  examination  on  his  voire  dire,  and 
with  an  ability  and  shrewdness  which  astonished 
every  person  within  hearing.  It  soon  became 
quite  evident,  that  the  wily  criminal  was  playing 
for  sympathy,  but  he  did  it  all  too  well,  for  not  a 
few  among  the  spectators  in  the  court  room 
quickly  determined  that  Holmes  was  quite  as  able 
as  his  counsel,  and  that  their  absence  was  no  loss 
to  him.  Apart  from  this,  amid  the  examination 
and  challenging  of  the  jurors,  both  the  Court  and 
District  Attorney  were  careful  to  see  that  a  fair 
and  impartial  jury  was  empanelled, — not  a  man 
being  accepted  who  exhibited  any  prejudice  or 
bias  against  the  prisoner.  The  American  love  of 
fair  play,  even  to  one  so  base  and  vile  as  Holmes, 
protected  the  prisoner  in  his  rights,  and  nothing 
was  permitted  to  enter  the  case  which  would  jus- 
tify the  slightest  criticism.  When  the  examina- 
tion of  witnesses  commenced,  the  Court  repeatedly 


JUSTICE  CRIED  '' AMEN.''  309 

instructed  tlie  prisoner  as  to  his  rights,  and  when 
sustaining  or  overruling  his  objections,  explained 
to  him  the  reason  for  so  doing. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  trial,  the  young  law- 
yers, who  had  departed  with  such  dramatic  effect 
the  day  before,  returned,  and  the  trial  proceeded 
in  an  orderly  manner  to  the  end. 

The  trial  was  distinguished  by  a  dignity  and 
decorum,  which  was  maintained  at  all  times,  de- 
spite the  sensational  and  dramatic  disclosures 
which  came  naturally  from  the  testimony,  or  the 
characteristic  behavior  of  the  prisoner,  as  he 
squirmed  in  tlie  net  in  which  he  was  caught. 

When  the  entire  audience  was  dissolved  in 
tears  at  the  pitiful,  lieart-breaking  narrative  of 
Mrs.  Pitezel,  the  prisoner  sat  unmoved  in  the 
dock,  scribbling  notes  and  occasionally  glancing 
at  the  woman,  whose  husband  and  children  he  had 
so  cruelly  murdered. 

When  Miss  Yoke,  the  young  woman  whom  he 
had  so  grievously  wronged,  appeared  upon  the 
stand,  the  prisoner  suddenly  began  to  weep,  and 
industriously  applied  his  handkerchief  to  the  tears 
which  came  or  appeared  to  come  from  his  eyes. 

At  the  close  of  lier  examination  in  chief,  Holmes 
insisted   upon   conducting  the   cross-examination 


310  3IRS.  PITEZEUS  HEARTBREAKING  NARRATIVE. 

himself,  iii  the  face  of  the  protest  of  liis  counsel 
and  he  did  his  best  to  catch  her  eye  and  to  break 
the  face  of  the  terrible  disclosures  she  had  made. 

The  character  of  the  prisoner's  grief  may  be 
better  understood,  when  a  remark  he  made  to  his 
counsel,  just  before  he  arose  to  cross-examine  Miss 
Yoke,  is  known.  He  was  overheard  to  say :  "  I 
will  now  let  loose  the  fount  of  emotion."  Who 
has  ever  seen  or  heard  of  his  equal  ? 

The  details  of  the  trial  have  been  widely  pub- 
lished. Whatever  doubt  existed  as  to  the  death 
of  Pitezel  was  dispelled  by  the  admission  of  the 
prisoner's  counsel  at  the  trial,  who  said  that  the 
body  found  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street  on  the 
second  day  of  September,  1894,  was  Benjamin  F. 
Pitezel,  and  therefore  the  testimony  of  the  more 
or  less  numerous  citizen,  who  had  declared  that 
he  had  seen  Pitezel  alive  in  St.  Louis,  Mobile, 
Chicago  and  other  places  a  week  or  so  before  the 
trial  and  who  was  so  evidently  drawing  upon  his 
imagination,  was  not  required  in  evidence- 
Prisoner's  counsel  also  admitted  that  Holmes 
was  present  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street  on  Sep- 
tember 2d,  but  contended  that  Pitezel  had  been 
found  dead, — that  he  had  committed  suicide. 
Three  physicians,  one  of  them  an  eminent  expert 


JUSTICE  CRIED   ''AMEN.''  313 

in  toxicology,  Dr.  Henry  Leffman,  all  testified 
that  the  condition  of  the  body  wlien  found  ex- 
cluded the  possibility  of  suicide,  and  that  the  man 
had  been  killed  by  chloroform  poisoning.  His 
robbery  of  Mrs.  Pitezel  of  the  insurance  money, 
his  repeated  assurances  to  her  that  her  husbaiid 
was  alive,  the  manner  in  which  he  had  taken  her 
from  Galva  to  Detroit,  "  to  meet  Ben,"  then  from 
Detroit  to  meet  him  "  because  Ben  was  followed 
by  detectives,"  on  to  Toronto  to  meet  him  there, 
then  upon  her  arrival  in  Toronto,  his  declaration 
that  Ben  had  gone  to  Montreal,  their  subsequent 
trip  to  Burlington,  Vermont,  and  his  many,  man}' 
lies  to  her  were  all  recited  in  pitiful  tones  by  the 
distressed  and  grief-stricken  widow  ani  mother. 

One  of  the  hardest  blows  received  by  the  pris- 
oner, was  from  the  testimony  of  Sidney  L.  Sam- 
uels, Esq.,  a  member  of  the  bar  of  Fort  Worth, 
Texas,  an  accomplished  lawyer  and  gentleman, 
who  when  upon  the  stand  referred  to  Holmes, 
(much  to  his  disgust)  as  "  the  individual  sitting 
in  the  cage."  Mr.  Samuels  came  all  the  way 
from  liis  home  in  Texas  to  Philadelphia,  to  prove 
that  the  note  which  Holmes  gave  to  Mrs.  Pitezel 
was  worthless.  Mr.  Samuels  had  written  the 
body  of  the  note  himself  and  gave  it  to  Holmes  to 


314  THE   WORTHLESS  NOTE. 

have  it  signed  by  Benton  T.  Lyuuin,  who  was  no 
other  than  Titezel  himself,  who  in  Jiinuary  and 
February  of  1894  was  in  P^ort  Worth  assisting 
Holmes  in  the  perpetration  of  one  of  his  Minnie 
Williams  schemes.  When  Holmes  returned,  he 
produced  another  note,  and  told  Mr.  Samuels 
that  he  had  lost  the  first  note.  This  note  he  gave 
Mrs.  Pitezel.  It  was  not  endorsed  on  the  back, 
and  had  never  been  negotiated,  and  it  Avas  a 
worthless  piece  of  paper.  The  note  he  alleged  he 
had  lost,  he  pahned  off  on  the  poor  deluded 
woman,  taking  from  hev  all  but  five  hundred  dol- 
lars of  the  seven;y-two  hundred  dollars  she  had 
received  from  Howe. 

Miss  Yoke  was  with  Holmes  in  Philadelphia  at 
the  timie  of  the  murder.  She  said  that  in  the 
evening  of  September  1st,  a  man  called  at  No. 
1905  TTorth  11th  Street,  where  she  and  the  man 
slie  s  apposed  ivas  her  husband  were  stopping. 
The  /isitor,  Hjlmes  told  her,  was  a  me.ssenger 
from  an  official  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Coripany,  who  had  advised  him  that  this  gentle- 
man would  meet  him  the  next  morning  at  Nice- 
town,  a  suburb  of  Philadelphia.  (He  afterwards 
admitted  to  her  that  this  man  who  called,  was 
Pitezel.)     She  said  that  Holmes  left  the  house  on 


JUSTICE  CRIED   ''AMEN."  315 

the  morning  of  September  2d  at  ten  or  ten-thirty 
o'clock,  and  returned  about  four  o'clock.  He 
then  said  he.  had  seen  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
man  but  had  not  completed  the  business  matter 
with  him  and  might  return,  and  that  he  would 
like  to  leave  for  the  West  that  evening.  He  told 
her  to  tell  Dr.  Alcorn,  that  they  were  going  to 
Harrisburg,  Pa.,  and  not  to  let  her  know  that 
their  destination  was  Indianapolis.  This  was  the 
time  he  said  he  went  to  No.  1316  Callowhill 
Street  and  found  Pitezel  dead  in  the  third  story 
of  the  house,  discovering  that  he  had  committed 
suicide. 

His  presence  at  the  house  at  the  time  of  death, 
his  concealment  of  the  death  both  from  the  au- 
thorities and  from  Mrs.  Pitezel,  the  proof  that  the 
man  had  not  died  from  chloroform  self-adminis- 
tered, his  robbery  of  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  the  insur- 
ance swindle,  mingled  with  his  audacious  fabrica- 
tions, made  up  one  of  the  strongest  cases  of  cir- 
cumstantial evidence  ever  presented  in  a  criminal 
court,  and  when  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of 
murder  in  the  first  degree,  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Samuels,  Justice  cried  "  Amen  "  to  the  verdict, 
and  the  people  and  press  poured  in  their  congrat- 
ulations upon  the  District  Attorney  and  his  As- 


316  MURDER  IN  THE  FIRST  DEGREE. 

sistant  and  the  able  and  faithful  detective,  Mr. 
Geyer,  whose  noble  work,  revealed  the  bloody 
tracks  of  a  human  monster,  whose  like  we  hope 
never  to  see  again. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

LOOKING   BACKWARDS. 

The  Motive  For  the  Murders— Pi tezel  Knew  too  Much — The 
Entire  Family  in  the  Way  of  The  Arch  Plotter— The  In- 
surance Fraud  the  Means  to  the  End — Separating  the 
Family — A  Grave  Dug  for  Alice  and  Nellie — Chloroform 
Found  in  the  Burlington  House — Mrs.  Pitezel's  Suspicious 
Aroused  —  The  "Eye  That  Never  Sleeps" — Holmes' 
Arrest  Prevents  Three  More  Murders. 

What  was  the  motive  for  these  murders? 
Why  did  he  kill  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel?  And  after 
committing  that  foul  deed,  why  was  it  necessary 
to  remove  Pitezel's  family?  That  he  fully  in- 
tended to  murder  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  Dessie  and 
the  baby,  Wharton,  is  too  evident  for  contradic- 
tion. Apart  from  his  suspicious  behavior  at  Bur- 
lington, recited  by  Mrs.  Pitezel  in  her  testimony 
at  the  trial,  the  commonwealth  had  further  evi- 
dence on  this  point  which  it  was  not  permitted  to 
disclose. 

The  cellar  of  the  Burlington  house  was  never 

searched  until  the  week  of  the  murder  trial  in 

Philadelphia,  when  a  thorough  investigation   of 

(317) 


318  THE  5I0TIVE  FOR   THE  3IURDERS. 

the  premises  was  made  by  request  of  District  At- 
torney Graham.  Jerome  Dumas,  the  Burlington 
cliief  of  police  ordered  every  part  of  the  cellar  to 
be  carefully  examined,  with  the  result  of  finding 
in  a  little  recess  back  of  a  joist  in  the  cellar 
and  under  the  first  floor,  a  bottle  containing  eight 
or  ten  ounces  of  chloroform.  As  every  step  of 
Mephistopheles  is  marked  by  a  track  of  fire,  so  do 
the  devious  paths  of  Herman  Webster  Mudgett, 
alias  Holmes,  bear  tlie  scent  of  the  deadly  chloro- 
form. Holmes  found  that  it  was  a  more  difficult 
task  to  dispose  of  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  her  eighteen 
months'  old  baby  and  her  daughter  Dessie,  a  vigor- 
ous girl  of  sixteen  years,  than  it  had  been  to  de- 
stroy the  younger  children,  so  he  deferred  that 
part  of  his  scheme  until  it  was  too  late,  and  hence 
the  discovery  of  the  bottle  of  chloroform  just 
where  he  had  placed  it.  He  was  arrested  before 
he  was  able  to  return  to  Burlington,  Vermont, 
after  his  visit  to  Gilmanton,  New  Hampshire.  In 
fact  he  knew  he  was  being  shadowed  by  detect- 
ives while  he  was  visiting  Gilmanton,  and  jour- 
neyed to  Boston,  where  he  believed  his  chances 
for  escape  were  greater. 

But   we  have  asked  what  was  the  motive  for 
these    murders?     The    reader   will   remember   a 


LOOKING  BACKWARDS.  'M 

statement  Holmes  makes  in  liis  letter  to  Mrs. 
Pitezel  just  before  she  was  released  from  the 
Philadelphia  county  prison.  He  said  "  VVe  never 
quarreled,"  alluding  to  the  relations  which  h.id 
existed  between  Pitezel  and  himself.  This  was  a 
base  falsehood  ; — they  had  quarrelled.  They  had 
a  dispute  in  Chicago  in  June  or  July  of  1894. 
The  subject  of  the  dispute  was  the  interest  wliich 
Pitezel  claimed  to  own  in  the  Castle  property  in 
Chicago,  and  the  Williams  real  estate  in  Fort 
Worth,  Texas.  He  told  Holmes  that  he  was  tired 
of  scheming  and  wanted  to  return  to  his  home, 
(which  was  in  St.  Louis)  and  lead  a  quiet  and 
peaceful  life  with  his  family.  He  declared  that  he 
was  part  owner  of  the  Chicago  real  estate,  and 
that  the  title  to  the  Fort  Worth  property  was  in 
his  alias,  Benton  T.  Lyman,  and  he  wanted  to  be 
paid  the  value  of  his  interest  and  play  quits. 

Pitezel  drank  heavily  and  while  under  the  in- 
fluence of  liquor,  talked  a  good  deal.  It  is  im- 
possible to  say  just  how  much  of  the  past  life  of 
Holmes,  Pitezel  knew  ;  what  secrets  of  the  Castle 
he  carried  in  his  breast  and  whether  if  he  opened 
his  lips  he  could  have  sent  Holmes  to  prison  or 
the  scaffold.  He  certainly  knew  enough  to  make 
him  in  his  cups  a  dangerous  associate. 


320  HTEZEL  KNEW  TOO  MUCH. 

Holmes  quieted  Pitezel,  by  suggesting  that  they 
should  work  out  one  more  scheme  together  and 
that  should  end  their  relations.  That  scheme  was 
to  cheat  and  defraud  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life  As- 
sociation of  Philadelphia,  in  the  perpetration  of 
which,  Holmes  saw  the  opportunity  to  rid  him- 
self of  every  person,  Pitezel,  his  wife  and  his 
cliihlren,  who  could  lay  claim  to  a  dollar  of  the 
value  of  the  real  estate.  Incidentally  he  proposed 
to  reap  every  dollar  of  benefit  from  the  insurance 
swindle. 

Proceeding  to  carry  out  his  scheme,  he  directed 
Pitezel  to  lease  a  house  in  Philadelphia,  to  which 
he  Si! id  he  would  bring  the  body  which  was  to  be 
substituted  for  Pitezel's.  Pitezel  advertised  him- 
self as  a  dealer  in  patents,  but  Holmes  showed  him 
a  splendid  recipe  for  a  solution  for  cleaning 
clothes,  containing  chloroform.,  benzine,  and  am- 
monia and  which  they  should  manufacture  and 
sell.  Thus  chloroform  was  introduced  into  the 
house  in  an  unspicious  manner.  While  poor 
Pitezel  was  waiting  for  the  cadaver  which  Holmes 
assured  him  he  was  arranging  to  obtain.  Holmes 
murdered  him.  He  went  to  St.  Louis  and  saw 
Mrs.  Pitezel.  He  did  not  dare  to  tell  her  that  her 
husband  was  dead.    No  tale  of  suicide  would  have 


LOOKING    BACKWARDS.  321 

been  accepted  by  Mrs.  Pitezel,  who  had  been  re- 
ceiving cheerful  letters  from  her  husband.,  and  mure- 
over  he  wanted  to  dispose  of  her  eventually  and 
the  opportunity  to  do  that  would  present  itself, 
when  he  led  her  from  city  to  city  to  meet  her 
husband.  He  told  her  that  Ben  was  alive,  and 
suggested  that  some  member  of  the  family  should 
return  with  him  to  Philadelphia  to  identify  the 
body.  This  was  the  first  move  he  made  in  sepa- 
rating the  family.  Alice  Pitezel  went  to  Philadel- 
phia and  after  identifying  the  body  as  that  of  her 
father,  he  took  her  to  Indianapolis  where  he  left 
her  in  the  Hotel  English.  Holmes  went  back  to 
St.  Louis  again.  By  this  time  the  insurance 
money  was  paid.  He  then  robbed  the  poor  woman 
of  most  of  the  $7,200  she  had  received  from  her 
attorney  Howe,  and  holding  up  to  her  the  horror 
of  discovery  of  her  husband  by  detectives,  said  the 
family  should  separate.  "  The  Insurance  Company 
knows  that  you  have  five  children,  and  you  must 
separate,"  said  Holmes.  Nellie  and  Howard  were 
then  handed  over  to  his  tender  care  and  they  went 
with  him  to  Cincinnati,  "where  Alice  was  under 
the  care  of  such  a  good  woman,  and  where  they 
could  go  to  school  until  all  the  clouds  had  rolled 

by." 


322  SUPABATING   the  FAMILY. 

He  moved  the  tliree  children  October  1st,  1894, 
to  Indianapolis  and  on  the  10th  of  that  month 
killed  Huward  in  the  house  at  Irvington.  Thus 
two  of  his  victims  had  been  disposed  of,  the  father 
and  the  son. 

He  now  moved  Alice  and  Nellie  to  Detroit  and 
hired  the  Forest  Avenue  house  where  he  intended 
to  kill  them  and  bury  them  in  the  hole  he  had 
dug.  To  Detroit  he  also  invited  Mrs.  Pitezel  and 
Dessie  and  the  baby,  "  where  Ben  was  Avaiting  to 
see  her." 

Some  hitch  occurred  in  Detroit,  and  he  moved 
his  three  parties  to  Toronto,  where  on  October 
25th,  two  other  members  of  this  obnoxious  family 
were  disposed  of.  He  wasgetting  along  very  well. 
He  had  killed  four  people  in  three  different  places, 
and  without  arousing  the  interest  or  any  inquiry 
from  anyone.  The  promise  to  see  Benin  Toronto 
was  not  fulfilled.  Ben  was  in  Montreal,  so  he  re- 
moved the  remainder  of  his  company  to  Burling- 
ton, Vermont,  where  he  thought  he  would  be  able 
to  clean  up  the  job,  by  removing  Mrs.  Pitezel  and 
her  youngest  and  eldest  child. 

He  found  the  task  a  hard  one.  Mrs.  Pitezel's 
suspicions  w^hich  had  been  dormant  so  long,  were 
now  aroused  and  she  was  on  the  alert.     To  give 


LOOKING    BACKWARDS.  323 

himself  an  opportunity  to  think  over  the  matter 
more  carefully,  he  concluded  to  visit  his  old  home 
in  Gilmauton,  New  Hampshire,  where  for  the  first 
time  tlie  "  eye  that  never  sleeps  "  rested  upon  liim. 
No  one  more  quickly  discovered  tliis  than  Holmes 
himself,  and  he  went  hurriedly  to  Boston,  but  only 
to  walk  into  tlie  cell  of  tlie  felon.  His  scheme 
had  failed  after  all.  He  was  quite  content  to 
stand  the  punishment  of  imprisonment  for  the  in- 
surance fraud,  but  he  was  awfully  afraid  of  the 
gallows.  He  used  all  tlie  cunning  for  which  he 
lias  become  famous,  in  avoiding  an  issue  which 
might  end  in  death  to  him.  He  who  had  dealt  de- 
struction to  others,  was  afraid  of  it  himself,  and  so 
followed  his  confessions  and  statements  and 
counter  statements  as  he  squirmed  and  struggled 
in  the  net. 

The  destruction  of  Pitezel  and  his. family  with- 
out detection,  would  have  left  Holmes  the  sole 
and  undisputed  owner  of  the  real  estate,  they 
jointly  held,  as  well  as  of  the  money  received 
from  the  Insurance  Company. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

A  TRIPLE  ALLIANCE. 

Holmes'  Desperate  Fight  to  Exclude  Miss  Yoke's  Testimony — 
Declared  Her  to  Be  His  Lawful  Wife — His  Unexampled 
Duplicity  With  Women — Mrs.  Herman  Webster  Mudgett 
— Mrs.  Harry  Howard  Holmes — Mrs.  Henry  Mansfield 
Howard — He  Lies  About  His  Parents  When  the  Truth 
Would  Have  Done  as  Well— He  Tells  to  His  Sister  Ihe 
Greatest  Lies  He  Ever  Told. 

There  is  just  one  clean,  bright  spot  in  the 
career  of  Mudgett,  alias  Holmes,  alias  Howard, 
alias  etc.,  etc.,  for  which  he  should  have  some 
credit,  and  that  is,  the  care  he  exercised  in  keep- 
ing from  the  women  whom  he  had  deceived,  his 
various  schemes  and  crimes,  and  especially  is  this 
true  of  Miss  Yoke.  He  told  her  that  his  name 
was  Holmes,  but  that  his  uncle,  Henry  Mansfield 
Howard,  of  Denver,  Colorado,  had  devised  prop- 
erty to  him,  provided  he  would  assume  his  name 
and  thus  he  married  Miss  Yoke  in  Denver  under 
the  name  of  Howard. 

From  the  time  of  their  meeting,  during  their 
engagement,  and  after  the  marriage  ceremony 
that  followed,  Miss  Yoke  was  taught  to  believe 

(32.5) 


326  A    TRIPLE  AUJAKCE. 

that  her  supposed  husband  was  engaged  prin- 
cipally iu  the  business  of  selling  or  leasing  a  new 
and  improved  patent  copier,  and  had  acquired 
considerable  property  by  devise  from  his  Denver 
uncle.  Their  journey  to  Texas  was  made  for  the 
alleged  purpose  of  taking  possession  of  a  ranch, 
which  his  uncle  had  willed  to  him.  Upon  arriving 
at  Fort  Worth,  he  told  her,  that  squatters  were 
in  possession  of  the  ranch  and  as  squatters'  rights 
received  more  seiious  recognition  in  the  South 
than  in  the  North,  and  as  he  was  afraid  he  might 
be  in  personal  danger  if  he  announced  himself  or 
ajipeared  as  the  owner  of  the  ranch,  Henry  ]\Ians- 
field  Howard,  they  had  better,  for  the  time  being, 
take  the  name  of  Pratt.  Thus  he  appeared  in 
Fort  Worth  with  Pitezel  as  D.  T.  Pratt,  and 
Pitezel,  who  was  also  there  at  the  time,  took  the 
name  of  Benton  T.  Lyman. 

Miss  Yoke  never  knew  that  Lyman  was  Pitezel, 
until  Holmes  was  arrested  in  Boston.  Although 
she  had  accompanied  Holmes  on  the  tour  from 
Detroit  to  Burlington,  she  never  knew  that  Mrs. 
Pitezel  and  her  children  were  travelling  from  city 
to  city,  under  the  care  of  her  supposed  husband ; 
nor  had  she  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the  scheme 
to  defraud  the  insurance  company,  or  of  the  ficti- 


A    TRIPLE  ALLIANCE.  327 

tious  names  lie  was  giving,  or  of  the  hideous  crimes 
Holmes  had  committed  on  the  way.  Nor  did  Mrs. 
Pitezel  know  that  Holmes  was  travelling  with 
Miss  Yoke,  nor  had  she  ever  heard  of  her  and 
never  knew  of  her  until  the  arrest  in  Boston. 
Upon  the  trial,  Judge  Arnold  in  charging  the 
jury  said:  "Truth  is  stranger  than  fiction,  and  if 
Mrs.  Pitezel's  story  is  true  it  is  the  most  wonder- 
ful exhibition  of  the  power  of  mind  over  mind  I 
have  ever  seen  and  stranger  than  any  novel  I  ever 
read." 

The  claim  made  by  Holmes  at  the  trial,  that 
Miss  Yoke  was  his  lawful  wife,  is  entirely  in  keep- 
ing with  his  record  for  deceit  and  audacity.  He 
was  married  to  Clara  A.  Lovering  on  July  4th, 
1878,  and  this  woman  is  now  living  in  Tilton, 
New  Hampshire.  He  was  married  to  Myrta  Z. 
Belknap  on  January  28th,  1887,  under  the  name 
of  Hariy  Howard  Holmes. 

On  February  14th,  1887,  a  little  over  two  u<eeks 
after  his  marriage  to  Miss  Belknap,  he  filed  in  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Cook  County,  Illinois,  in  the 
city  of  Chicago,  a  petition  praying  for  a  divorce 
from  Clara  A.  3Iuclgett  nee  Lovering  on  the  ground 
of  infidelity.  On  June  4th,  1891,  this  petition 
was  dismissed  for  failure  of  prosecution  and  hence 


328  A   TRIPLE  ALLIANCE. 

it  clearly  appears  that  his  lawful  wife  is  Mrs. 
Clara  A.  Mudgett,  who  now  resides  at  Tiltoii, 
New  Hampshire. 

On  September  19th,  1893,  he  made  application 
to  the  Fidelit}'  Mutual  Life  Association  for  a 
ilO,000  policy  of  insurance  and  named  therein 
in  his  own  handwriting  as  beneficiary,  "My  wife, 
Myrta  Z.  Holmes."  At  this  very  time,  Septembei", 
1893,  he  was  engaged  to  be  married  to  Miss  Yoke 
and  in  fact  married  lier  in  Denver  in  the  following 
January,  1894. 

It  need  cause  no  surprise  therefore,  to  learn 
that  when  Miss  Yoke  was  called  to  the  witness 
stand  at  the  trial,  she  gave  her  maiden  name. 
She  had  become  familiar  with  the  marriage  record 
of  her  supposed  husband,  and  was  fully  convinced 
that  she  was  not  his  lawful  wife  and  had  been 
grossly  and  cruell}^  deceived. 

When  arrested  in  Boston,  Miss  Yoke  met  the 
sister  and  brother  of  Holmes,  and  her  eyes  were 
opened  and  her  real  position  made  clear.  Holmes 
had  told  her  that  he  was  the  last  of  his  race  and 
that  his  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters  had  long 
since  departed  this  life.  This  lie  he  had  evidently 
told  also  to  Miss  Belknap,  for  in  his  application 
for   insurance    in    September,   1893,   he    declared 


A    TRIPLE  ALLIANCE.  329 

that  his  mother  had  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight 
years  of  a  disease  he  did  not  remember,  and  his 
father  at  the  age  of  sixty-two  from  injur}-  to  his 
foot. 

One  may  readily  imagine  Miss  Yoke's  amaze- 
ment when  she  learned  of  the  existence  of  Mrs. 
Mudgett,  at  Tilton,  New  Hampshire,  and  of  the 
further  shock  she  experienced  when  she  learned 
that  upon  leaving  her  at  Burlington,  New  Hamp- 
shire, "to  go  on  a  business  trip,"  he  had  revisited 
his  real  wife  at  Tilton,  resumed  his  relations  with 
her,  took  her  to  the  house  of  his  parents  who  were 
living  and  in  good  health  at  Gilmanton,  and  re- 
mained with  her  and  them  at  the  homestead  for 
two  or  three  days,  and  upon  leaving  promised  his 
wife  to  return  the  following  April,  and  never 
desert  her  again. 

This  is  the  position  in  which  Holmes  found 
himself  at  the  homestead  : — a  wdfe  at  Wilmette, 
Illinois,  another  waiting  for  his  return  at  Bur- 
lington, New  Hampshire,  and  his  real  wife,  taking 
him  back  and  receiving  him  with  a  loving  and 
forgiving  spirit,— notwithstanding  his  petition  for 
divorce  for  alleged  infidelity,  a  charge  which  was 
doubtless  as  false  and  as  wicked  as  his  own  de- 
praved heart, 
19 


330  A    TRIPLE  ALLIANCE. 

His  situation  was  one  fraught  with  peril,  so  he 
concluded  to  open  up  a  line  of  retreat.  He  told 
one  or  more  members  of  his  family,  that  he  had 
had  a  remarkable  experience.  (His  introduction 
to  this  story  was  certainly  true.)  He  said  he  had 
been  in  a  railroad  collision  in  the  West  and  had 
teen  severely  injured.  When  he  awakened  out 
of  the  unconscious  condition  caused  by  the  injury, 
he  found  he  was  in  a  hospital.  He  further  dis- 
covered to  his  amazement  that  all  memory  of  his 
former  self  had  been  blotted  out.  Who  he  was, 
his  name,  his  occupation,  his  home,  his  parents, 
his  friends, — the  memory  of  all  had  fled.  On  tha 
night  of  the  accident  a  curtain  had  dropped  be- 
tween him  and  his  past,  and  all  idea  or  knowledge 
of  his  former  self  had  been  swept  into  oblivion. 
To  the  hospital  in  which  he  was  treated,  came  a 
beautiful  woman,  who  brought  flowers  to  the  sick 
and  read  to  them  from  good  books,  and  with  her 
gentle  voice  sought  to  bring  cheer  into  the  dull 
hospital  wards.  This  sweet  woman  brought 
flowers  and  read  to  him,  and  finallj'  fell  in  love 
with  him  and  he  with  her.  Upon  his  convales- 
cence they  were  married.  This  good  woman  was 
very  rich  and  was  deejily  touched  when  she  ob- 
served the  suffering  he  constantly  endured,  as  he 


A   TRIPLE  ALLIANCE.  331 

in  vain  endeavored  to  regain  the  threads  of 
memory  of  his  past.  Finally,  through  her  in- 
fluence and  wealth,  she  secured  the  assistance  of 
a  great  surgeon  who  performed  a  wonderful  oper- 
ation upon  his  head.  When  he  came  out  of  ether, 
to  his  amazement  his  memory  had  like  a  flood 
come  back  upon  him  and  to  his  unspeakable 
horror  he  realized  what  a  wrong  he  had  committed 
in  marrying  the  sweet  woman  who  had  adminis- 
tered to  him  as  lie  lay  helpless  and  sick  in  the 
hospital.  Pie  remembered  then  that  he  was  a 
married  man  and  that  his  real  wife,  Carrie 
Mudgett,  was  living. 

He  further  said  to  his  family  that  he  had  not 
told  this  lovely  woman  that  she  was  not  his  wife, 
and  betrayed  to  them  the  deep  grief  and  distress 
from  which  he  was  suffering  in  the  unusual  situa- 
tion in  which  he  found  himself  and  for  which  he 
was  really  not  responsible. 

This  alleged  patroness  of  the  hospital  and  reader 
to  the  sick  was  Miss  Yoke,  for  this  he  told  his 
sister. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  there  was 
not  a  word  of  truth  in  this  story,  from  beginning 
to  end.  Miss  Yoke  was  not  the  patroness  of  a 
hospital,  nor  had  she  visited  or  read  to  the  sick, 


332  A    TRIPLE  ALLIANCE. 

nor  had  she  met  him  in  such  an  institution,  nor 
was  she  wealthy. 

What  a  wonderful  meeting  it  would  be,  between 
these  three  women, — Mrs.  Mudgett,  Mrs.  Holmes, 
and  Mrs.  Howard.  If  each  would  tell  the  other 
the  tales  he  had  told,  what  an  *'  infinite  and  end- 
less liar  "  they  would  prove  him  to  be. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

A   FEIEND   IN  NEED. 

Geyer  Receives  a  Cipher  Letter,  with  the  Key  Attached — Was 
It  an  Efifort  to  Divert  the  Detective  from  His  Pursuit? — 
Letters  from  the  Insane — Holmes  Taught  Ciphers  to  His 
Friends. 

Holmes  was  never  so  much  in  need  of  his 
friends  as  he  was  in  the  summer  of  1895.  The 
hunt  for  the  missing  children,  was  known  to  the 
uttermost  ends  of  the  country,  and  if  the  District 
Attorney's  office  received  suggestions  of  all  sorts 
and  kinds,  anonymous  and  otherwise,  so  did  Mr. 
Holmes.  That  he  had  sympathizing  friends  out- 
side, friends  who  would  have  been  helpful  to  him 
had  opportunity  offered,  cannot  be  questioned. 

These  friends  were  aware  that  all  mail  sent  to 
Holmes  to  the  Philadelphia  County  prison  was 
inspected  before  delivery  to  the  prisoner,  and 
some  of  it  for  proper  public  reasons,  never  reached 
the  prisoner.  One  of  these  friends  undertook  by 
a  device  to  divert  Detective  Geyer  from  the  pur- 
suit of  the  track  of  Holmes,  just  as  he  was  leav- 
ing Indianapolis  after  his  second  visit.     The  de- 

ism) 


334  A    FRIEND  IN  NEED. 

tective  received  at  the  Spencer  House  an  anony- 
mous letter  in  cipher,  ivith  the  key  attached,  advis- 
ing him  that  an  important  letter  had  been  sent  to 
Holmes  to  Philadelphia ;  that  the  writer  was  ad- 
vising the  detective  at  great  personal  risk  and 
that  the  letter  should  be  opened  and  inspected 
before  delivery  to  the  prisoner.  The  letter  came 
in  due  course  and  a  copy  of  it  is  given  elsewhere. 

This  letter  tells  Holmes  not  "  to  worry  about 
the  boy ;  he  is  safe  and  sound,"  and  at  first  it  gave 
the  impression,  that  Holmes  had  in  some  way  con- 
veyed to  an  outside  party  the  place  where  the  re- 
mains of  the  boy  had  been  buried,  and  that  the 
boy's  remains  had  been  removed  from  the  place  of 
concealment. 

After  careful  deliberation,  the  District  Attor- 
ney's office  concluded  that  it  was  a  trick  or  device 
for  a  purpose  not  very  clear  and  it  was  totally  dis- 
regarded, and  the  search  subsequently  continued 
with  the  result  already  narrated.  This  is  one  of 
the  many  letters,  some  in  cipher  which  were  re- 
ceived and  are  now  among  the  great  mass  of 
manuscript  which  have  accumulated  in  the  case. 
Newspapers  evidently  make  their  way  into  lunatic 
asylums,  for  letters  from  the  insane  came  in  by 
the   score.     The  name  of  Holmes  also  seemed  to 


A   FRIEND  IN  NEED.  335 

become  as  common  as  Brown  or  Smith,  for  many 
letters  referring  to  this  person  and  that  person  by 
the  name  of  Holmes  and  requesting  infoimation 
as  to  comparisons  of  points  of  identity  with  the 
prisoner  were  received. 

One  of  the  letters  received  in  cipher  is  given 
below.  This  letter  is  very  easily  read  by  drop- 
ping every  other  sentence,  separated  by  commas. 

'Aug.  2d,  1895. 
Friend  H.  H.  H  :— 

I,  and  Jim,  will  not,  saw  and, 
split,  the  wood.  They,  can't  and,  don't,  want  to, 
know,  whether  there  is,  anything,  around  or, 
about,  the,  conservatory  or,  green  house,  I,  think, 
will  leave,  the  dog,  for,  Mrs.  John,  Cleveland,  at 
Bleak  House,  to-morrow.  Will,  join  him  under, 
cover,  and  fix,  all,  circus  board,  signs,  there. 
Same,  time  I  will,  sigh  for,  Ponto's  fate  and  yours 
in  his  misfortune. 
R.  I.  T.  U.  A.  L.  Friend, 

L.  S.  Page. 

"  Friend  H.  H.  H  :— 

I  will  not  split.  They  don't 
know  anything  about  conservatory.  I  will  leave 
for  Cleveland  to-morrow.  Will  cover  all  signs. 
Same  cipher." 


336  A   FRIEND  IN  NEED. 

This  letter  was  apparently  written  by  some  one 
familiar  with  the  famous  Chicago  "  Castle,"  and 
referred  to  a  place,  a  "  conservatory  "  not  known 
to  the  police.  As  it  had  no  relevancy  to  the 
Philadelphia  case,  it  created  little  or  no  comment 
and  is  given  simply  to  illustrate  how  the  habit  of 
writing  ciphers  into  which  this  great  criminal  had 
drifted,  had  been  taught  to  his  friends  and  was 
made  a  method  of  communication  between  them. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   EXCLUDED   TESTIMONY. 

Witnesses  liom  Six  States  and  the  Domiuion  of  Canada — 
Thirty-five  Witnesses  Positively  Identify  Holmes — Holmes 
Grows  a  Beard — "The  Individual  in  the  Cage  " — The  Dis- 
trict Attorney  Thanks  Officials  and  Witnesses — Devoted 
Services  of  the  Officers  of  the  Insurance  Company. 

Thirty-five  witnesses,  who  were  not  citizens 
of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania  and  who  were  not 
subject  to  the  subpoena  or  process  of  the  Phila- 
delphia court,  responded  to  the  request  of  the  Dis- 
trict Attorney  to  appear  at  the  trial.  These  wit- 
nesses were  from  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis,  Irving- 
ton,  Detroit,  Toronto,  Burlington  (Vermont), 
Boston  and  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 

At  the  proper  time  after  Mrs.  Pitezel  had  told 
her  sad  story,  District  Attorney  Graham  offered 
to  prove  that  Holmes  had  murdered  Howard  Pite- 
zel at  Irvington,  Indiana,  and  Alice  and  Nellie 
Pitezel  at  Toronto,  Canada.  This  offer  was  made 
to  show  what  the  prisoner  had  done  during  his 
flight  from  Philadelphia  around  the  circuit  of  the 
cities  he  made  until  he  reached  Boston,  where  he 

(337) 


338  THE  EXCLUDED   TESTIMONY. 

was  arrested.  Tliat  the  murder  of  Pitezel  and 
the  murder  of  the  children  were  really  paits  of 
one  transaction,  with  one  design,  to  wit,  the  ex- 
termination of  the  Pitezel  family,  and  the  evidence 
was  admissible  in  proving  the  motive  and  purpose 
of  the  prisoner.  The  Trial  Judge  sustained  the 
objection  of  the  defence  to  this  offer  and  the  case 
went  to  the  jury  on  the  testimony  produced  by 
the  commonwealth,  which  related  simply  and 
solely  to  the  murder  of  Pitezel  at  No.  1316  Cal- 
lowhill  Street. 

The  witnesses,  produced  with  so  much  labor 
and  expense,  were,  in  consequence  of  this  decision 
of  the  Court,  not  called,  and  what  they  would 
have  said  on  the  witness  stand  was  not  given  to 
the  public. 

It  will  be,  therefore,  of  much  interest  to  note 
that  they  each  and  all  identified  the  prisoner. 
Holmes  had  permitted  his  beard  to  grow  during 
his  confinement,  but  his  active  participation  in  the 
examination  of  jurors  and  witnesses  as  the  trial 
proceeded,  together  with  large  and  finely  executed 
pliotograplis  of  the  prisoner  as  he  appeared  with- 
out a  beard  at  the  time  of  his  arrest,  enabled  every 
witness  to  identify  him  at  once  and  beyond  a 
question  or  shadow  of  doubt.     He  was  identified 


THE  EXCLUDED   TESTIMONY.  339 

by  W.  L.  Bain,  clerk  of  the  Hotel  Bristol,  Cincin- 
nati, as  the  man  who  brought  the  three  Pitezel 
children  to  that  hotel  on  Saturday,  September 
29th,  and  registered  as  "  A.  E.  Cook  and  three 
children  " ;  by  J.  C.  Thomas  as  the  person  who 
rented  No.  305  Poplar  Street,  Cincinnati,  under 
the  name  of  "  A.  C.  Hayes  " ;  by  Miss  Etta  Hill 
as  the  person  whom  she  saw  take  a  large  stove 
into  the  Poplar  Street  house  and  who  the  follow- 
ing day  came  to  her,  said  he  had  concluded  not  to 
keep  the  house,  presented  her  with  the  stove  and 
departed. 

Of  the  Indianapolis  witnesses,  Wm.  Sherman 
Welch,  of  the  Stubbins  House,  said  Holmes  whom 
iie  saw  in  court,  was  the  man  who  brought  Alice 
Pitezel  to  that  hotel  on  September  24th,  registered 
her  as  "  Etta  Pitsel,"  and  took  her  away  four  days 
later.  He  was  also  identified  by  Herman  Acke- 
low,  proprietor  of  the  Circle  House,  as  the  person 
who  brought  the  three  children,  Alice,  Nellie  and 
Howard,  to  his  hotel  on  October  1st  and  took 
them  away  on  the  10th  ;  also  by  J.  C.  Wands  as 
the  man  who  rented  the  Irvington  house  "  for  his 
sister,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Cook;"  by  Dr.  J.  L.  Thomp- 
son, who  saw  him  at  the  house  at  Irvington,  after 
he  had  taken  possession,  and  by  Elvet  Moorman 


340  THE  EXCLUDED   TESTDIONY. 

who  assisted  hira  in  putting  up  the  stove,  while 
Howard  Pitezel,  the  little  hoy,  stood  hy  looking  on. 

The  Detroit  witnesses  were  equally  positive  as 
to  the  identification. 

Peter  Cotter,  of  the  New  Western  Hotel,  iden- 
tified the  prisoner  as  the  man  who  brought  Alice 
and  Nellie  to  his  hotel  and  registered  them  as 
"Etta  and  Nellie  Canning."  Mrs.  Lucinda  Burns 
was  positive  he  was  the  man  who  brought  Alice 
and  Nellie  to  her  boarding  house.  No.  91  Congress 
Street.  It  was  from  tliis  house  that  Alice  wrote 
her  last  letter,  in  which  she  complained  of  "  al- 
most freezing  in  that  thin  jacket,"  and  said, 
"  Howard  is  not  with  us  now."  No  one  can  read 
that  letter  without  the  conviction  that  Holmes 
had  cautioned  the  children  about  speaking  of 
when  and  where  Howard  had  left  them.  It  is  in- 
conceivable that  Alice  would  have  written  a  let- 
ter to  the  home  folks,  simply  saying  that  Howard 
was  no  longer  wath  them,  and  no  more,  unless  she 
had  been  following  the  instructions  of  the  arch- 
fiend who  was  waiting  for  his  opportunity  to  put 
them  to  death,  and  who  had  already  made  an  end 
of  the  boy. 

George  Dennis,  runner  for  the  Albion  Hotel, 
Toronto,  said  Holmes  was  the  man  who  placed 


THE  EXCLUDED   TESTIMONY.  341 

Alice  and  Nellie  in  his  care  on  the  evening  of 
October  19th,  and  instructed  him  to  take  them  to 
his  hotel.  Herbert  Jones,  clerk  of  the  Albion, 
identified  Holmes  as  the  man  wiio  called  for  the 
little  girls  every  morning,  returning  them  ev^ny 
evening,  until  the  morning  of  October  25th,  when 
he  paid  their  board  in  full,  and  took  them  away. 
They  never  returned. 

Mrs.  Nudel  and  her  daughter,  Miss  Minnie, 
said  Holmes  was  the  man  who  rented  the  house 
No.  16  St.  Vincent  Street,  for  "his  widowed  sis- 
ter." 

Thomas  W.  Ryves  of  No.  18  St.  Vincent 
Street,  identified  the  prisoner  as  the  man  who  on 
October  24th,  borrowed  his  spade,  "  to  dig  a  pit 
for  potatoes,"  in  the  cellar  of  No.  16  St.  Vincent 
Street,  and  who  returned  it  the  next  day,  the 
25th.  He  told  Mr.  Ryves  that  his  widowed  sister 
and  her  children  were  to  occupy  the  house. 

W.  B.  McKillip,  said  Holmes  was  the  man  who 
rented  the  house  in  Burlington,  Vermont,  gave 
his  name  as  Judson  and  said  he  wanted  the  house 
"  for  his  widowed  sister,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Cook." 

Sydney  L.  Samuels  Esq.,  a  lawyer  of  Fort 
Worth,  Texas,  at  the  request  of  District  Attorney 
Graham,  journeyed  all  the  way  from  his  home  to 


34'J  THE  EXCLUDED    TESTDTONV. 

the  city  of  Philiideli)hui,  to  testify  :is  to  his 
knowledge  of  the  fraiululeut  and  bogus  note  wliieli 
Holmes  used  in  robbing  Mrs.  Pitezel.  Mr. 
Samuels  came  North  on  this  long  and  tiresome 
journey,  to  assist  the  law  officers  of  the  Common- 
wealth in  administering  public  justice,  and.  re- 
fused the  compensation  which  he  could  have 
properly  claimed  for  such  a  protracted  absence 
from  his  professional  duties  and  business  at  home. 
His  identification  of  the  prisoner.  Holmes,  as 
"the  individual  in  tlie  cage,"  (meaning  the 
prisoner's  dock)  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  witnessed  it.  The  tone  of  contempt  with 
which  Mr.  Samuels  used  the  expression,  drew  the 
hot  blood  to  the  prisoner's  cheek,  and  he  threw  a 
quick  glance  at  the  lawyer-witness,  full  of 
malevolence  and  which  boded  ill  for  him,  had  the 
prisoner  been  free,  and  a  bottle  of  chloroform 
handy. 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  how  plainly 
marked  was  the  track  of  the  prisoner,  once  it  was 
discovered.  He  used  the  same  names  repeatedly 
and  rented  a  house  in  each  of  the  cities,  Cincin- 
nati, Indianapolis,  Detroit,  Toronto  and  Burling- 
ton, and  told  practically  the  same  falsehood  in 
each  instance. 


THE  EXriA'DED    TESTLWONY.  3VZ 

The  detection  of  tliis  great  eriniiiial  and  tlie 
preparations  for  tlie  trial,  was  a  work  of  great 
labor,  but  the  burden  was  made  easier  by  officials 
and  citizens  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  where 
Holmes  and  his  victims  had  been  traced. 

After  the  trial  had  ended,  District  Attorney 
Graham  sent  to  each  of  the  police  officials  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Indianapolis,  Detroit,  Toronto,  Burling- 
ton and  Boston,  and  to  all  the  witnesses  who  had 
attended  the  trial  from  distant  parts,  the  follow- 
ing official  communication  : 

Nov.  6th,  1895. 
I  desire  to  express  to  you  my  warm 
appreciation  of  the  manner  in  which  you  so  kindly 
aided  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the 
recent  trial  of  Hermann  W.  Mudgett,  alias  H. 
H.  Holmes  charged  with  Homicide. 

Your  loyalty  and  fidelity,  and  your  willingness 
to  so  cheerfully  assist  in  dispensing  justice,  deserve 
my  highest  commendation. 

The  result  of  the  trial  will  be  of  benefit,  not 
only  to  Pennsylvania,  but  to  all  communities 
wherever  justice  is  vigorously  and  impartially 
administered  through  the  orderly  procedure  and 
under  the  forms  and  protection  of  Law. 
Sincerely  Yours, 

George  S.  Graham. 


344  THE  EXCLUDED   TESTI310NY. 

In  this  connection  and  as  a  conclusion  to  this 
story  of  unparalleled  crime,  it  is  proper  to  speak 
of  the  unselfish  and  devoted  services  of  the  of- 
ficers of  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Association. 
Mr.  L.  G.  Fouse,  the  distinguished  President  of 
the  Company  and  his  associates  furnished  the  of- 
ficials of  the  county,  charged  with  the  prosecu- 
tion, with  every  possible  aid  and  assistance, 
measured  neither  by  what  it  cost  in  money  nor  in 
effort,  and  prompted  by  the  highest  considerations 
of  humanity  and  the  demands  of  public  justice. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

CHRONOLOGY. 

1800.        Herman    Webster  jNIudgett  born  at 
ifinu  teth.    Gilmanton,  New  Hampshire. 

1S7S.        He  is  married  to  Clara  A.  Loveriiig 
July  -ith.     at  Alton,  New  Hampsliire,  by  John 
W.  Canrrier,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
1SS7.        He  is  married  to  Myrta  Z.  Belknap 
Jan.  2sth.    under  the   name  of  Harry   Howard 
Holmes. 
tsst.        He    files   in    the    Superior    Court  of 
Feh.  14th.     Cook   county,  Illinois,  a  libel  in  di- 
vorce against  his  wife,  Clara  A.  Lev- 
ering   Mudgett,    praying   that   their 
marriage  may  be  dissolved. 
isoi.        The  said  court  orders  this  suit  to  be 
j-ii«e  4th.    dismissed  for  default  of  appearance 
of  complainant. 
1S03.        He  meets   Miss   Georgiana  Yoke  in 
March       Chicago. 

1S93.        He   makes  application   for  a  twenty 

Sept.  Moth.    year  optional  insurance  for  110,000 

in  the  Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Associa- 

(345) 


CHRONOLOGY. 


isoa, 

Xoi'.   Oth. 


Snuie  Slottth. 


ISO-t. 

Jan.  iifh. 


Sun, 

feb. 

April. 


Ajiril. 


tiou  in  wliich  lie  avers:  ^'^  Mother  died 
at  oS,  doiit  remember  tlie  disease,  tio 
acute  disease.  Father  died  at  62  from 
ivjary  to  Ids  foot.'" 

Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Association  in- 
sures Benjamin  F.  Pitezel  in  the  sum 
of 'tl  0,000. 

Holmes  is  engaged  to  be  married  to 
Miss  Yoke  under  the  name  of  Henrj' 
Mansfield  Howard. 
He  is  married  to  Miss  Yoke  in  Den- 
ver, Colorado,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wil- 
cox, and  the}'  journey  on  their  honey- 
moon to  Fort  Worth,  Texas. 
Mudgett  and  Pitezel,  (the  former 
under  the  name  of  D.  T.  Pratt  and 
the  latter  under  the  name  of  Benton 
T.  Lyman)  in  Fort  Worth,  Texas, 
where  they  engage  in  building  a 
store  property  on  land  formerly 
owned  by  Minnie  Williams. 
Pitezel  leaves  Fort  Worth  and  goes 
to  Chicago. 

Mudgett  and  Miss  Yoke  leave  Fort 
Worth  and  journey  to  Denver,  Col- 
orado. 


CHRONOLOGY 


?A1 


June  Sfh. 
June  lath. 


July  tOth. 


July  3Stti. 
July  29th. 


July  3l8t. 


Tliej-  make  their  appearance  in  St. 
Louis. 

About  this  date  Holmes  (Mudgett) 
and  Pitezel  go  to  Memphis,  Tennes- 
see. In  this  vicinity  they  first  con- 
sider the  location  of  tlie  place  Avhere 
they  propose  to  execute  the  insurance 
fraud. 

Holmes  and  wife  return  to  St.  Louis. 
Holmes  purchases  a  drug  store  in  St. 
Louis,  Missouri,  under  the  name  of 
Howard,  upon  which  he  gave  a  mort- 
gage. 

Holmes  is  arrested  in  St.  Louis  by 
the  Merrill  Drug  Company  and  sent 
to  prison  under  a  charge  of  fraud  and 
for  selling  mortgaged  property.  The 
man  "  Brown,"  to  whom  he  sold  it  is 
supposed  to  have  been  Pitezel.,  Dur- 
ing his  imprisonment  in  the  St.  Louis 
jail,  he  meets  Marion  C.  Hedgepeth. 
He  is  released  on  bail. 
He  is  rearrested  and  again  committed 
to  prison. 

He  is  again  released  on  bail  furnished 
by  Miss  Yoke. 


348  CHRONOLOGY. 

Anattut  9.     He   is  in    New   York  and   Philadel- 

3  atiii  s.      pliia. 

Aua.  4th.     Miss    Yoke    (Mrs.    Howard)    leaves 
Lake  Bluff,   Illinois,  where  she  was 
visiting,    and    journeys    to    Philadel- 
phia. 
1S04.        Sunday.     Holmes  meets  Miss  Yoke 

Aug.  3th.  at  Broad  Street  Station,  Philadelphia, 
and  takes  her  to  a  boarding  honse, 
No.  1905  N.  11th  Street  (Mrs.  Dr. 
Alcorn's.)  He  tells  Miss  Yoke  he  is 
selling  a  patent  letter  copier. 

Aug.  9th.  Holmes  telegraphs  $157.50,  (the  half 
yearly  premium  on  the  Pitezel  policy), 
to  the  Chicago  office  of  the  Fidelity 
Mutual  Life  Association. 

Aug.  17th.  Pitezel,  under  the  name  of  B.  F. 
Perry,  rents  No.  1316  Callowhill 
Street  and  pays  |10  on  account  of 
the  rent  to  Walter  W.  Shedaker, 
Agent. 

Aug.  mn.  Holmes  and  Pitezel  purchase  second 
hand  furniture  of  John  F.  Hughes, 
No.  1037  Buttonwood  Street,  which 
was  sent  to  No.  1316  Callowhill 
Street. 


CHRONOLOGY. 


Aug.  tsth. 


Aug.  ana. 


Aug.  22a 
to  Sept,  1st. 


Sept.  1st. 


Sept.  Xd. 


Pitezel  calls  at  the  furinciire  store 
alone  and  purchases  a  cot  and  some 
old  matting. 

Eugene  Smith  calls  upon  Pitezel  and 
sees  Holmes  pass  into  the  house  and 
go  upstairs. 

Pitezel  is  seen  in  and  about  No.  1316 
Callowhill  Street  by  a  large  number 
of  persons. 

Evening.  Pitezel  calls  upon  Holmes 
at  No.  1905  North  Eleventh  Street. 
Holmes  leaves  No.  1905  N.  11th 
Street  at  about  10.80  A.  M.  He  re- 
turns about  4  P.  M.  He  tells  his 
wife  (Miss  Yoke)  that  the  man  who 
called  the  evening  before,  was  a  mes- 
senger from  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road Company  and  that  he  could 
have  an  interview  with  a  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  official  the  next  day 
at  Nicetown.  This  Sunday  morning 
he  said  he  was  going  out  to  Nice- 
town  to  see  the  official  and  that  if 
he  was  successful,  and  as  their  week 
was  up,  they  would  probably  start 
West  that  night. 


350  CHRONOLOGY. 


Sept. 

3rt. 

Sept. 

4th. 

Sept. 

4th. 

Sept. 

6th. 

Sept. 

5th. 

Evening.      Holmes    and   Miss    Yoke 
leave  Philadelphia  on  the  10.25  train 
and  went  direct  to  Indianapolis. 
They  arrive  in  Indianapolis  and  reg- 
ister at  the  Stubbins  House. 
They  take  boarding  at  No.  488  North 
Illinois  Street,  Indianapolis. 
Pitezel's    body   found   at    No.    1316 
Callowhill  Street  by  Eugene  Smith. 
Coroner  holds  first  inquest. 
Holmes  goes  to  St.  Louis,  calls  upon 
Mrs.  Pitezel  and   tells  her  to  go  to 
Howe  with   the  papers,  meaning  in- 
surance policy,  etc.    She  takes  papers 
to   Howe.     Holmes  told  her  that  a 
body   had   been   substituted  for  her 
husband   and   that    "  Ben    was  alive 
and  all  right,"  and  not  to  worry. 
Fidelity  Mutual  receives  a  telegraphic 
dispatch    from    George    B.    Stadden, 
Manager  for  Missouri,  at  St.  Louis, 
stating    that    "  B.    F.    Perry,    found 
dead  in  Philadelphia,  is  claimed  to  be 
B.    F.    Pitezel,    who    is    insured    on 
044145.     Investigate  before  remains 
leave  there." 


CHRONOLOGY. 


351 


About  this  time  Howe  writes  to  the 
company  in  Philadelphia,  stating  that 
he  was  counsel  for  Mrs.  Pitezel,  the 
beneficiary  under  the  policy  and 
would  come  on  with  a  member  of  the 
family  to  identify  the  body,  etc. 
Sept.  13th.    Pitezel's  body  buried  as  B.  F.  Perry 

in  Potters  Field,  Philadelphia. 
Sept.  oth  Holmes  was  with  Miss  Yoke  at  her 
to  Sept.  10th.  mother's  home  in  Franklin,  Indiana, 
leaving  her  he  said  to  go  to  St.  Louis 
again  or  to  Cincinnati,  and  then  to 
Indianapolis.  At  this  time  Holmes 
was  occasionally  with  his  other  wife 
at  Wilmette,  Illinois.  He  was  likely 
with  her  on  September  11th.  At 
Indianapolis  he  tells  Miss  Yoke  that 
he  had  heard  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  ofBcial  in  Philadelphia  about 
the  copier  and  they  were  ready  to 
pay  over  the  money,  and  they  had 
directed  him  to  come  on  at  once.  He 
left  her  at  the  Circle  Park  Hotel,  In- 
dianapolis, and  went  to  Philadelphia. 
Sept.  inh.  He  writes  a  letter  to  Mr.  Cass,  Chi- 
cago Cashier  of  the  Fidelity,  stating 


352  CHBONOLOOY. 

that  his  wife  (Wilmette  wife)  had 
told  him  that  information  was  wanted 
of  B.  F.  Pitezel,  who  was  found  in 
Chicago  as  B.  F.  Perry. 
Sept.  istit.  He  writes  another  letter  to  Cass,  say- 
ijig  that  he  overhears  the  body  was  iu 
Philadelphia  and  not  in  Chicago,  and 
that  he  would  go  to  Philadelphia  if 
his  expenses  were  paid. 

See  these  letters.     Pages  26  and  29. 

Sept.  ioth.  Holmes  leaves  Indianapolis  for  Phila- 
delphia. He  again  stops  at  No.  1905 
North  11th  Street ;  Mrs.  Alcorn's. 

Sept.  zoth.  He  calls  at  the  office  of  the  company 
in  Philadelphia,  No.  914,  Walnut 
Street.  He  tells  Mr.  Fouse,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Company  that  he  had 
corresponded  with  Cass.  He  asks 
Fouse  about  the  circumstances  of  the 
death,  which  Fouse  relates  briefly. 
Holmes  said  it  was  a  very  peculiar 
case,  and  asked  INIr.  Fouse  the  cause 
of  death,  etc. 

Bept.  20th.  Alice  writes  her  first  letter  to  the 
home  folks. 


CHRONOLOGY.  353 

Philadelphia,  Pa., 

Cor.  Filbert  &  llth  sts.,  Sept.  20,  1894. 
Dear  Mamma  and  the  rest  : 

Just  arrived  in  Phila- 
delphia this  morning  and  1  wrote  you  yesterday 
of  this.  Mr.  Howe  and  I  have  each  a  room  at  the 
above  address.  I  am  going  to  the  Morgue  after 
awhile.  We  stopped  off  at  Washington,  Md., 
this  morning,  and  that  made  it  six  times  that  we 
transferred  to  different  cars.  Yesterday  we  got 
on  the  C.  and  O.  Pullman  car  and  it  was  crowded 
so  I  had  to  sit  with  some  one  Mr.  Howe  sit  with 
some  man  we  sit  there  quite  awhile  and  pretty 
soon  some  one  came  and  shook  hands  with  me.  I 
looked  up  and  here  it  was  Mr.  Howard.  He  did 
not  know  my  jacket,  but  he  said  he  thouglit  it 
was  his  girl's  face  so  he  went  to  see  and  it  was  me. 
I  don't  like  him  to  call  me  babe  and  child  and 
dear  and  all  such  trash.  When  I  got  on  the  car 
Tuesday  night  Mr.  Howe  ask  me  if  I  had  any 
money  and  I  told  him  5  cents  so  he  gave  me  a 
dollar  How  I  wish  I  could  see  j^ou  all  and  hug 
the  baby.  I  hope  you  are  better.  Mr.  H.  says 
that  I  will  have  a  ride  on  the  ocean.  I  wish  you 
could  see  what  I  have  seen.  I  have  seen  more 
scenery  than  I  have  seen  since  I  was  born  I 
don't  know  what  I  saw  before.  This  is  all  the 
paper  I  have  so  I  will  have  to  close  &  write 
again.  You  had  better  not  write  to  me  here 
for   Mr.   H.   says  that  I  may  be  off  to-morrow. 


354  CHRONOLOGY. 

If  you  are  worse  wire  me  good-bye  kisses  to 
all  and  two  big  ones  for  you  and  babe.  Love 
to  all. 

E.  Alice  Pitezel. 


Sept.  atat.  Howe  and  Alice  Pitezel  called  at  In- 
surance Office.  Holmes  calls  same 
time.  Tliey  meet  as  strangers,  al- 
though they  had  travelled  together 
from  some  point  in  Ohio  to  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  Howe  and  Alice  got  off  at 
Washington  and  Holmes  took  train 
for  Philadelphia.  Howe  and  Alice 
came  to  Philadelphia  on  later  train. 
That  day  Holmes  took  Alice  out  to 
see  the  sights  of  the  city  and  then 
to  Mrs.  Alcorn's  that  night,  stating 
that  she  (Alice)  was  his  little  sister. 
Alice  slept  in  the  3d  story  next  to 
Holmes'  room  which  communicated 
with  it.  Alice  had  stopped  with 
Howe  at  the  Imperial  Hotel,  11th 
and  Filbert  Streets,  from  which  place 
she  wrote  two  letters.  Following  are 
copies : 


CHRONOLOGY.  355 

Imperial  Hotel, 

Eleventh,  above  Market  Street, 

Hendricks  &  Scott,  Propr's., 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Sept.  21,  1894. 
Dear  Mamma  and  Babe  : 

I  have  to  write  all  the 
time  to  pass  away  the  time. 

Mr.  Howe  has  been  away  all  morning.  Mamma 
have  you  ever  seen  or  tasted  a  red  banana?  I 
have  had  three.  They  are  so  big  that  I  can  just 
reach  around  it  and  have  my  thumb  and  next 
finger  just  tutch.  I  have  not  got  any  shoes  yet 
and  I  have  to  go  a  hobbling  around  all  the  time. 
Have  you  gotten  4  letters  from  me  besides  this? 
Are  you  sick  in  bed  yet  or  are  you  up  ?  I  wish 
that  I  could  hear  from  you  but  I  don't  know 
whether  I  would  get  it  or  not.  Mr.  Howe  tele- 
graphed to  Mr.  Beckert  and  he  said  that  he  would 
write  to  you  toniglit.  I  have  not  got  but  two 
clean  garments  and  that  is  a  shirt  and  my  white 
skirt.  I  saw  some  of  the  largest  solid  rocks  that 
I  bet  you  never  saw.  I  crossed  the  Patomac 
Itiver.  I  guess  that  I  have  told  all  the  news;  So 
good  bye  Kisses  to  you  and  babe. 

Yours  loving  daughter, 

Miss  E.  A.  Pitezel. 
If  you  are  worse  telegraph  to  the  above  address. 
Imperial  Hotel, 
Eleventh  above  Market  Street. 


856  CHRONOLOGY. 

.'.mperial  Hotel, 

Eleventh  above  Market  Street, 

Hendricks  &  Scott,  Propr's., 

Philadelahia,  189-. 

Dear  Dessa  : 

I  thought  T  would  write  you  a  little 
letter  and  when  I  get  to  Mass.  you  must  all 
write  to  me.  Well  this  is  a  warm  day  here  how 
is  it  there.  Did  you  get  your  big  washing  done 
if  I  was  there  you  would  have  a  bigger  one  for  I 
have  a  whole  satchel  full  of  dirty  clothes.  I  bet 
that  I  have  more  fruit  than  all  of  you.  Dessa  I 
guess  you  are  without  shoes  for  I  guess  they  don't 
intend  to  get  me  any.  H.  has  come  now  so  I 
guess  I  have  to  go  to  dinner. 

Dessa  take  good  care  of  mama.  I  will  close 
your  letter  and  write  a  little  to  Nell  and  Howard 
next  time  so  good  bye  love  to  you  with  a  kiss. 


Dear  Mama  : 

I  was  over  to  the  insurance  office 
this  afternoon  and  Mr.  Howe  thinks  there  will  be 
no  trouble  about  getting  it.  They  asked  me 
almost  a  thousand  questions,  of  course  not  (;[uite 
so  many.  Is  his  nose  broken  or  has  he  a  Roman 
nose.  I  said  it  was  broken.  I  will  have  to  close 
and  write  more  tomorrow  so  good  bye  love  to  all 
with  kisses  to  all.  Your  loving  daughter, 

E.  Alice  Pitezel. 


CHRONOLOGY.  357 

Sept.  21st.  At  the  conference  at  the  company's 
office  on  tliis  day,  the  marks  of  iden- 
tification were  agreed  upon. 
Sept.  S2d.  Pitezel's  body  exhumed  at  Potters 
Field.  Holmes  finds  wart  on  neck 
and  other  marks  of  identification,  and 
says  the  body  is  that  of  B.  F.  Pitezel. 
Alice  recognizes  teeth  of  her  father. 
He  takes  Alice  to  No.  1904  North 
11th  Street. 

Sept.  23€i.  Holmes  and  Alice  make  affidavits  be- 
fore Coroner  Ashbridge  that  the  body 
found  as  B.  F.  Perry  at  No.  1316 
Callowhill  Street  was  that  of  Benja- 
min F.  Pitezel.  That  evening  Holmes 
and  Alice  leave  for  Indianapolis. 

Sept.  24th.  They  arrive  in  Indianapolis.  He 
registers  Alice  as  Utta  Pitsel  in  his 
handwriting. 

Sept.  24th.  Insurance  Company  pays  Howe  <f9- 
715.85,  face  of  insurance  policy,  less 
expenses. 

Sept.  24ih.  Alice  writes  another  letter  home. 
The  person  alluded  to  in  these  letters 
as  4,  18,  8,  is  the  children's  cipher 
for  Holmes. 


358  crrRoxoLonv. 

Stubbins'  Euro[)ean  Hotel, 
One    square    north    of    Union  Depot  on    Illinois 
Street. 

Indiana  POL  rs,  Ind., 

Sep.  24,  1894. 
Dear  Ones  at  Home, 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  yon 
are  all  well  and  that  you  are  up.  I  guess  you 
will  not  have  any  trouble  in  getting  the  money. 
4,  18,  8  is  going  to  get  two  of  you  and  fetch  you 
here  with  me  and  then  I  won't  be  so  lonesome 
at  the  above  address.  I  am  not  going  to  Miss 
Williams  until  I  see  wliere  3'ou  are  going  to  live 
and  then  see  you  all  again  because  4,  18,  8  is 
afraid  that  I  will  get  two  lonesome  then  he  will 
send  me  on  and  go  to  school.  I  have  a  pair  of 
shoes  now  if  I  could  see  you  I  would  have  a  nough 
to  talk  to  you  all  day  but  I  cannot  very  well  write 
it  1  will  see  you  all  before  long  though  don't  you 
worr}'.  This  is  a  cool  day.  jNIr.  Perry  said  that 
if  you  did  not  get  the  insurance  all  right  through 
the  lawyers  to  rite  to  Mr.  F'oust  or  Mr.  Perry.  I 
wish  I  had  a  silk  dress.  I  have  seen  more  since  I 
liave  been  away  than  I  ever  saw  before  in  my 
life.  I  have  another  picture  for  your  album.  I 
will  have  to  close  for  this  time  now  so  good  bye 
love  and  kisses  and  squesses  to  all. 
Yours  daughter, 

Etta  Pitezel. 

P.  O.     I  go  by  Etta  here  4,  18,  8  told  me  to  O 


CHRONOLOGY. 


359 


Howard  O  Dessa,  O  Nell  O  Mamma,  O  Baby. 
Nell  you  &  Howard  will  come  with  4,  18,  8,  &' 
Mamma  and  Dessa  later  on  won't  you  or  as 
Mamma  says. 

Etta  Pitezel. 


Sept.  atth. 


Sept.  ftSth. 


Holmes  goes  to  St.  Louis  and  re- 
mained there  until  the  28th. 
Holmes  gets  $6,700  of  the  insurance 
money  out  of  the  S7,200  received  by 
Mrs.  Pitezel  from  Howe.  He  gives 
her  the  bogus  note. 
Holmes  takes  Nellie  and  Howard 
from  Mrs.  Pitezel  at  St.  Louis.  Alice 
joins  them  at  Lidianapolis  and  she 
goes  with  Holmes,  Nellie  and  Howard 
to  Cincinnati,  where  Holmes  registers 
at  the  Atlantic  House  under  the 
name  of  Alexander  E.  Cook  and 
three  children. 

He  rents  No.  305  Poplar  Street  from 
Mr.  J.  C.  Thomas  and  takes  a  large 
stove  to  this  house.  Over  night  of  28th 
he  remains  at  Atlantic  House  and  on 
the  29th  he  takes  them  to  Hotel  Bris- 
tol, registers  there  as  A.  E.  Cook  and 
three  children,  and  remains  there  un- 


360  CHRONOLOGY. 

til  Sunday,  September  30th  when  he 
left  with  the  children  for  Indianapolis 
and  registers  them  at  Hotel  English 
as  "  Three  Canning  children." 
Oct.  1st.      Mrs.  Pitezel  left  St.  Louis  for  Galva, 
Motuuiii.     Illinois    with   Dessie   and   the   baby. 
Galva  was  the  home  of  her  parents. 
Holmes  takes  the  children  to  the  Cir- 
cle House,  Indianapolis  (registers  as 
"Three    Canning   children")    where 
they  remained  until  October  10th. 
oet.  1st.     Alice  and  Nellie  write  letters  as  fol- 
lows : 

Indianapolis,  Ind., 

Oct.  1st,  1894. 
Dear  Mamma. 

We  was  in  Cincinnati  yesterday 
and  we  got  here  last  night  getting  that  telegram 
from  Mr.  Howe  yesterday  afternoon. 

Mr.  H.  is  going  to-night  for  you  and  he  will 
take  this  letter.  We  went  us  three  over  to  the 
Zoological  Garden  in  Cincinnati  yesterday  after- 
noon and  we  saw  all  the  different  kinds  of  animals. 
We  saw  the  ostrich  it  is  about  a  head  taller  than 
I  am  so  you  know  about  how  high  it  is.  And  the 
giraffe  you  have  to  look  up  in  the  sky  to  see  it. 
I  like  it  lots  better  here  than  in  Cincinnati.  It  is 
such  a  dirty  town  Cin. 


CHRONOLOGY.  363 

There  is  a  monument  right  in  front  of  the  hotel 
where  we  are  at  and  I  should  judge  that  it  is 
about  3  times  the  liight  of  a  five  story  building. 
I  guess  I  have  told  all  the  news  so  good  bye  love 
to  all  &  kisses.  Hope  you  are  all  well. 
Your  loving  daughter, 

Etta  Pitezel. 


Indianapolis,  Ind., 

Oct.  1st,  1894. 
Deae  Mamma,  Baby  and  D. 

We  are  all  well  here. 
Mr.  H.  is  going  on  a  late  train  to-night.  He  is 
not  here  now  I  just  saw  him  go  by  the  Hotel  He 
went  some  place  I  don't  know  where  I  think  he 
went  to  get  his  ticket. 

We  are  staying  in  another  hotel  in  Indianapolis 
it  is  a  pretty  nice  one  we  came  here  last  night 
from  C. 

I  like  it  here  lots  better  than  in  C.  It  is  quite 
worm  here  and  I  haveto  wear  this  warm  dress 
becaus  my  close  an't  ironet.  We  ate  dinner 
over  to  the  Stibbins  Hotel  where  Alice  staid  and 
they  knew  her  to.  We  are  not  staying  there  we 
are  at  the  English  H. 

We  have  a  room  right  in  front  of  a  monument 

and  I  think  it  was  A.  Lincolns.     Come  as  soon  as 

you  can  because  I  want  to  see  you  and  baby  to. 

It  is  awful  nice  place  where  we  are  staying  I  don't 

21 


364 


CHRONOLOGY. 


think  you  would  like  it  in  Cincinnati  either  but 
Mr.  H.  sais  he  likes  it  there. 

Good  bye  your  dau. 

Nellie  Pitezel. 

Oct.  5th.  Holmes  rents  the  house  at  Irvington 
from  Mr.  Grouse  (J.  C.  Wand's 
clerk.)  He  said  he  wanted  it  for  his 
sister,  Mrs.  A.  E.  Cook  and  her  chil- 
dren, and  that  she  intended  using  it 
as  a  boarding  house. 
Oct.  eth,  7th,  Children  write  letters  home. 


Oct.  loth.     Howard  disappears  on  this  day. 

Same  day.  Holmcs  takes  Alicc  and  Nellie  from 
the  Circle  House. 

Oct.  lath.  Evening.  Holmes  arrives  in  Detroit. 
Himself  and  Miss  Yoke  in  one  party  ; 
Alice  and  Nellie  in  another.  He 
registers  the  children  at  the  New 
Western  Hotel  as  Etta  and  Nellie 
Canning,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  He  regis- 
ters himself  and  Miss  Yoke  at  the 
Hotel  Normandie  "  G.  Howell  and 
wife,  Adrian." 

Oct.  lath.  Mrs.  Pitezel,  Dessie  and  the  baby 
leave  Galva,  Illinois  for  Detroit,  stop- 


CHRONOLOGY. 


Oct.    15th. 


Oct.    ISth. 


ping  in  Chicago.  Holmes  has  writ- 
ten to  her  that  "  Ben  "  was  waiting 
to  see  her  in  Detroit. 
Holmes  and  Miss  Yoke  remove  from 
Hotel  Normandie  to  No.  54  Park 
Place.  He  gave  their  names  as  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Holmes. 

Mrs.  Pitezel,  Dessie  and  the  baby  ar- 
rive in  Detroit,  and  register  as  C.  A. 
Adams  and  daughter  at  Geis's 
Hotel. 

Alice  writes  her  last  letter. 
Holmes   takes    Alice   and   Nellie    to 
boarding  house  of  Lucinda  Burns  at 
No.  91  Congress  Street. 
About  this  date,  Holmes  rents  of  Mr. 
Boninghausen  the  house  No.  241  E. 
Forest  Avenue.      Mr.  Boninghausen 
does    not    remember   name   Holmes 
gave.     In   the   rear   of  cellar   under 
porch  of  the  house,  Holmes  digs  a 
hole  four  feet  long,  three  and  a  half 
feet  wide,  three  feet  six  inches  deep. 
Holmes  and  Miss  Yoke  leave  Detroit 
for  Toronto,  Canada.     He  tells  Mrs. 
Pitezel  that  Ben  had  gone  to  Toronto. 


CHBONOLOGY. 

At  Toronto  Holmes  registers  at 
Walker  House  as  Geo.  H.  Howell 
and  wife,  Columbus.  Some  day  Mrs. 
Pitezel,  Dessie  and  the  baby  left 
Geis's  Hotel,  Detroit  for  Toronto ; 
were  met  at  Grand  Trunk  depot  by 
Holmes  and  taken  to  the  Union 
House,  where  they  register  under 
the  name  of  C.  A.  Adams  and 
daughter. 

Alice  and  Nellie  leave  Detroit  for 
Toronto ;  arrive  in  the  evening  about 
8  o'clock ;  were  met  by  Holmes  who 
turned  them  over  to  George  Dennis, 
a  hotel  porter,  for  the  Albion  Hotel, 
and  they  were  registered  as  Etta  and 
Nellie  Canning,  Detroit. 
Holmes  rented  house  No.  16  St.  Vin- 
cent Street  of  Mrs.  Nudel.  Said  his 
name  was  Howard  and  that  he 
wanted  it  for  his  sister. 
Same  day  Holmes  and  Miss  Yoke 
went  to  Niagara  Falls. 
They  returned  and  registered  at  the 
Palmer  House  under  the  name  of 
Howell. 


CHRONOLOGY.  367 

Oct.  24th.  Holmes  borrows  a  spade  from  Mr. 
Ryves,  No.  18  St.  Vincent  Street  to 
dig  a  hole  in  the  cellar,  "  for  the 
storage  of  potatoes."  While  in 
Toronto,  Holmes  called  at  Albion 
Hotel  for  Alice  and  Nellie  every 
morning,  returning  them  in  the  even- 
ing. 

Oct.  25th.  On  the  morning  of  this  day,  he  takes 
Alice  and  Nellie  from  the  Albion 
Hotel,  paying  their  account  for  board 
in  full.     The  children  disappear. 

Oct.  2sth.  He  requests  Mrs.  Pitezel  to  go  to 
Ogdensberg.  He  tells  her  Ben  is  in 
Montreal.  He  said  that  he  had 
rented  a  house  in  Toronto,  but  that 
two  detectives  on  bicycles  were 
watching  it,  and  it  would  not  be  safe 
for  Ben  to  visit  h-er  there. 

Oct.  2eth.  Holmes  and  Miss  Yoke  leave  Toronto 
and  go  to  Prescott,  Canada ;  remained 
there  over  night. 

Oct.  3ist.  He  is  found  at  Burlington  at  the  Bur- 
lington House ;  registered  as  G.  D. 
Hale,  Columbus,  Ohio.  He  moved 
to   rooms   at  Mr.  Aherns,  where  he 


CHRONOLOGY. 


Xov.  leth. 


Nov.  17th. 


gave  the  names  of  himself  and  Miss 
Yoke  as  "  Mr.  Hall  and  wife." 
He  rents  a  house  No.  26  Winooski 
Avenue  of  W.  B.  McKillip  under  the 
name  of  J.  A.  Judson,  for  his  sister 
Mrs.  Cook. 

Between  these  dates  visited  his  par- 
ents at  his  old  home  in  Gilmanton, 
New  Hampsliire ;  resumes  his  rela- 
tions with  his  real  wife,  Mrs.  Mud- 
gett.  He  tells  a  romantic  story  ac- 
counting for  his  absence  from  home. 
He  is  arrested  in  Boston. 
He  makes  his  first  confession.  He 
says  Pitezel  is  alive  in  South 
America,  or  on  his  way  there,  and 
that  the  children  were  with  him.  He 
said  Pitezel  was  bound  for  San  Salva- 
dor. That  their  means  of  communi- 
cation was  to  be  in  the  personal 
column  of  the  New  York  Herald. 
Mrs.  Pitezel  is  arrested  on  the  same 
day. 

Holmes  and  Mrs.  Pitezel  brought  to 
Philadelphia;  committed  to  county 
prison. 


CHRONOLOGY. 


369 


nee.  iSth. 


nee.  17th. 


Mrs.  Pitezel  makes  a  full  statement  to 
Mr,    Fouse    and    Mr.    Perry   of  the 
Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Association. 
Holmes  now  says  Pitezel  is  dead,  and 
that  the  children  were  given  to  Miss 
Williams,  who  took  them  to  Europe. 
Makes  another  confession,  declaring 
that  Pitezel  was    dead    and   that  he 
had  committed  suicide. 
1S9S.        Holmes    is   tried   for   conspiracy    to 

June  3€j.  cheat  and  defraud  the  Insurance  Com- 
pany, and  on  the  second  day  of  the 
trial,  pleads  guilty. 

June  filth.  Detective  Geyer  leaves  Philadelphia 
and  commences  his  search  for  the 
children. 

July  15th.  Geyer  finds  the  bodies  of  Alice  and 
Nellie  in  the  cellar  of  the  Toronto 
House,  No.  16  St.  Vincent  Street. 

Aug.  27th.  Geyer  finds  the  remains  of  Howard 
in  the  house  at  Irvington,  a  few  miles 
from  Indianapolis. 

Sept.  12th.  Holmes  is  indicted  in  Philadelphia 
for  the  murder  of  Benjamin  F. 
Pitezel. 

Sept.  23d.    He    pleads  not  guilty.     The   Court 


370  CHRONOLOGY. 

fixes  the  day  of  the  trial  to  be 
October  28th. 

Oct.  xsth.  Motion  for  continuance  denied.  Trial 
commences,  and  continues  until 
November  2d.  Jury  render  a  ver- 
dict :  "  Guilty  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree." 

Nov.  isth.    Motion  for  a  new  trial  argued. 

Nov.  3oth.  Motion  for  new  trial  overruled. 
Holmes  sentenced  to  be  hung. 


APPENDIX  I. 

SPEECH   OF   HON.   GEO.  S.  GRAHAM,   DISTRICT   AT- 
TORNEY. 

With  submission  to  your  Honor ;  Gentlemen  of 
the  Jury :  I  am  quite  sure  that  it  is  with  a  feel- 
ing of  relief  that  you  see  the  end  of  this  trial  rap- 
idly approaching,  and  that  you,  who  have  been 
taken  from  your  homes,  your  places  of  business, 
and  practically  imprisoned  during  the  whole 
length  of  these  proceedings,  are  now  to  be  re- 
leased and  permitted  to  return  and  resume  your 
usual  places  and  duties  in  society.  I  know,  also, 
that  you  feel  relieved,  because  the  speaking  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  case  is  to  be  somewhat  limited. 
Instead  of  the  three  speeches  that  were  contem- 
plated yesterday  afternoon,  in  view  of  the  illness 
of  Mr.  Shoemaker,  T  have  voluntarily  waived  that 
which  is  the  right  of  the  Commonwealth— to 
close ;  the  right  of  the  Commonwealth  is  not  only 
to  open  or  sum  up,  but  to  close  the  argument  in 
this  case. 

I  propose,  therefore,  to  ask  you  now,  to  join 
with  me  in  reasoning  for  a  little  while  about  the 


372     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

evidence  which  you  have  heard — the  testimony  in 
this  case.  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  give  me  your 
best  attention,  and  your  best  thought,  while  I  try 
to  refresh  your  recollection,  and  aid  your  reason 
in  reaching  right  conclusions  from  the  evidence. 
After  which  I  propose  to  leave  the  final  argument 
to  my  young  friend  who  represents  the  prisoner 
at  the  Bar.  I  ask  you  to  listen  to  him,  and  the 
reasons  he  may  assign,  and  if  they  are  consistent 
with  the  evidence  in  the  case,  and  in  your  judg- 
ment more  nearly  accord  with  the  truth,  as  you 
see  it,  adopt  them  ;  and  if  the  firm  finger  of  duty 
points  you  in  that  direction,  acquit  this  prisoner 
and  set  him  free. 

The  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  is  the 
prosecutor  in  this  case.  You  will  take  up  this 
Bill  of  Indictment  and  read,  "The  Commonwealth 
of  Pennsylvania,  against  Herman  W.  Mudgett, 
alias  H.  H.  Holmes."  The  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania  wants  no  victim.  The  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania  does  not  ask  for  the  con- 
viction of  this  man,  though  he  may  be  covered 
with  the  evidences  of  guilt  in  other  matters,  un- 
less in  this  specific  case  now  on  trial,  the  testi- 
mony that  you  have  heard  points  indubitably  to 
his  guilt  and  authorizes   his  conviction.      I  ask 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     373 

your  attention  to  the  evidence,  because  I  propose 
to  say  to  you  that,  after  a  careful  perusal  of  it, 
my  mind  is  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  I  must 
press  upon  you  the  discharge  of  a  great,  and  per- 
haps to  you,  a  trying  duty.  I  believe  that  I  can 
take  up  the  testimony  in  this  case  just  as  it  stands 
to-day,  and  lead  you  through  it  by  a  straight  path 
to  but  one  conclusion,  and  that  conclusion  abso- 
lutely inconsistent  with  the  innocence  of  the  pris- 
oner at  the  Bar.  If  it  were  not  so,  it  would  be 
my  duty  to  abandon  this  case.  If  it  were  not  so, 
or  if,  in  that  review,  my  mind  would  hesitate  in 
reaching  a  conclusion,  because  of  the  weakness  of 
the  evidence  or  any  defect  in  the  proof,  then  it 
would  be  my  duty  to  say  that  there  is  a  doubt  of 
this  prisoner's  guilt  and  he  is  entitled  to  the  ben- 
efit of  that  doubt,  and  upon  that  doubt  he  ought 
to  be  acquitted. 

The  task  laid  before  me  is  this :  I  must  point 
out  from  this  evidence  the  facts  which  prove  con- 
clusively that  this  prisoner  at  the  Bar  murdered 
Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street, 
on  the  2d  day  of  September,  1894, — so  conclu- 
sively that  there  will  not  be  a  single  doubt  left 
lurking  in  your  minds — so  positively  that  you  will 
feel  under  your  oaths  as  jurors  that  there  is  but 


374     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

one  course  left  open  for  you,  and  that  is  to  find 
the  verdict  pointed  out  to  you  in  the  opening  of 
this  case — the  higliest  known  to  the  law — a  ver- 
dict of  murder  in  the  first  degree. 

It  is  true,  as  my  friend  on  the  other  side  has 
said,  this  case  has  consumed  five  days.  It  is  true 
that  a  large  amount  of  testimony  has  been  pro- 
duced; that  a  great  number  of  witnesses  have 
been  called  to  the  stand  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing the  Commonwealth's  case  ;  but  that  ought 
not  to  be  a  subject  of  complaint  from  the  defend- 
ant— that  care  has  been  taken  ;  that  the  testimony 
has  been  carefully  selected ;  that  it  has  been  mar- 
shalled in  court ;  that  it  has  been  presented  to 
you,  with  all  the  time  necessary  for  its  inspection 
and  consideration — that  ought  not  to  be  a  subject 
of  complaint  from  the  prisoner;  for  the  Common- 
wealth is  bound  to  prove  its  case  from  the  initial 
step,  down  to  the  very  last  syllable  of  testimony 
requisite  to  make  it  complete. 

The  Commonwealth  has  done  so  in  this  case. 
The  Commonwealth  has  proved  by  testimony 
every  step  in  this  important  proceeding,  out  of  the 
lips  of  thirty-five  witnesses  who  have  been  ex- 
amined before  you.  We  have  endeavored  to  es- 
tablish it  link  by  link,  one  by  one,  each  one  sepa- 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     375 

rate  and  distinct  from  the  others,  but  together 
making  the  chain  complete  and  perfect. 

May  I  recall  to  your  attention,  without  attempt- 
ing to  read  this  mass  of  testimony,  but  with  a 
word  here  and  a  suggestion  there,  what  we  have 
listened  to  during  these  past  five  days  ? 

I  am  sure  there  is  not  a  man  in  that  jury-box, 
but  will  be  grateful  to  me  for  redirecting  his  at- 
tention to  that  which  must  be  the  basis  of  his  ac- 
tion— to  wit,  the  evidence  in  the  case.  I  am  sure 
you  want  to  know  it ;  I  am  sure  you  want  to  re- 
member it ;  I  am  sure  you  want  to  act  intelli- 
gently upon  it :  and  I  am  firmly  convinced  that 
you  wish  to  reach  a  right  conclusion  from  it. 

The  testimony  began  with  the  calling  of  Miss 
Jeannette  Pitezel  to  the  stand.  You  remember 
her.  That  was  her  first  appearance  in  the  case. 
She  has  been  called  quite  a  number  of  times  since. 
She  was  called  then  but  for  one  single  purpose. 
This  picture  (liolding  up  picture  of  Benjamin  F. 
Pitezel)  was  shown  to  her,  and  she  was  asked  the 
question,  *'  Whose  picture  is  that  ?  "  That  wit- 
ness identified  this  picture,  used  so  frequently 
during  the  trial — the  picture  of  the  dead  man. 
"  That's  the  picture  of  my  father,  Benjamin  F. 
Pitezel."     That  was  her  identification. 


376     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

The  next  witness  called  was  a  young  man  from 
the  Detective  Bureau,  who  established  the  iden- 
tity of  two  other  pictures  that  you  and  I  have 
used  so  often  in  this  case.  These  are  the  pictures 
of  the  prisoner  (holding  up  two  pictures  of 
Holmes).  We  feared,  since  the  prisoner  during 
his  imprisonment  had  chosen  to  cultivate  a  beard 
upon  his  face,  that  when  the  witnesses  would  be 
called  into  this  court  room  during  the  trial,  there 
might  be  difficulty  in  identifying  him,  and  the 
Commonwealth's  case  might  be  imperilled  for  lack 
of  identification,  and  so,  as  a  precautionary  meas- 
ure, we  procured  these  pictures  of  him  as  he  was 
when  these  witnesses  saw  him,  in  order  that  we 
might  have  them  here,  in  this  enlarged  form,  for 
the  use  of  the  witnesses  in  identifying  him,  and  so 
that  they  might  not  be  puzzled  in  so  doing  by  his 
changed  appearance.  When  he  entered  the  prison 
cell,  his  face  was  like  that  (holding  up  the  picture 
of  the  prisoner  without  a  beard).  He  has  not 
shaved  since  that  time  and  this  beard  has  grown. 
Why  ?  Of  course,  I  do  not  know ;  but  it  was  my 
duty — and  that  of  my  colleague,  Mr.  Barlow,  who 
attended  to  these  arrangements — it  was  our  duty 
to  see  that  no  injury  should  come  to  the  Common- 
wealth's case  by  reason  of  any  change  in  his  ap- 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     377 

pearance  while  in  the  prison  cell,  and  that  our 
witnesses  might  be  aided  in  their  identification  by 
this  counterfeit  presentment  of  what  he  was  at 
the  time  of  these  occurrences. 

The  next  witness  you  listened  to  was  Mr.  Eu- 
gene Smith.  I  am  not  going  to  read  the  testi- 
mony he  gave  you,  but  simply  ask  your  attention 
to  it  again.  He  came  in  here  and  told  you  the 
story  of  the  finding  of  the  bodyo  He  knew  No. 
1316  Callowhill  Street.  He  had  visited  the  place 
on  business  several  times.  He  went  into  the  store 
or  office  on  this  Monday  afternoon,  the  3d  of  Sep- 
tember, and  he  saw  no  sign  of  Pitezel,  everything 
was  in  place  there,  but  no  man  was  there  ;  the 
door  closed,  but  not  locked.  He  found  articles  of 
clothing  hanging  in  the  room.  After  waiting 
some  time  and  unable  to  wait  any  longer,  he 
passed  out,  but  returned  again  the  next  morning. 
He  found  the  room  precisely  as  he  had  seen  it  on 
Monday  afternoon  —  no  change  in  appearance; 
even  the  articles  of  clothing  that  were  hanging  in 
the  room  were  in  the  same  place.  It  looked  sus- 
picious to  him ;  it  immediately  excited  his  atten- 
tion, and  he  commenced  to  look  through  the  house. 
He  tells  you  how  he  went  through  that  office  or 
store  part  of  the  building,  back  to  the  entrance  to 


378     ABGmiENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

the  stairway,  and  passed  on  up  to  the  head  of  the 
stairs,  or  the  landing  on  the  second  floor.  He 
tells  you  how  the  door  to  his  left  on  this  landing 
opened  into  the  back  room,  and  that  along  the 
entry  way  in  front  of  him  there  was  another  door 
leading  into  the  front  room.  Hastily  glancing 
from  where  he  stood  into  that  front  room,  he  saw 
a  cot,  but  it  was  empty ;  no  one  seemed  to  be 
there.  Then  turning,  he  looked  into  the  open 
door  at  his  side,  when,  lo  !  there  upon  the  floor  he 
discovered  the  body  of  a  man.  Looking  in  hast- 
ily, and  supposing  that  the  man  had  probably 
been  killed  or  shot,  he  did  not  enter.  Instantly 
descending  the  stairs,  he  summoned  two  police 
officers ;  and  they,  in  turn,  summoned  Dr.  Scott, 
who  lived  in  the  neighborhood.  All  of  them  re- 
turned to  the  house,  and  he  tells  you  what  they 
saw ;  the  position  of  the  body  lying  perfectly 
straight  on  its  back  on  the  floor,  the  right  arm 
laid  across  the  breast,  the  left  hand  down  at  the 
side,  the  limbs  straight  out  from  the  body,  the 
heels  together,  the  feet  in  position,  the  whole  in- 
dicating all  absence  of  struggle  and  a  condition 
of  perfect  tranquility  and  repose. 

Smith   was   examined  and  questioned  on  this 
matter  with   a   wonderful  amount  of  insistance, 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     381 

where  it  v/as  wholly  unnecessary,  about  a  little 
incident  which  occurred  and  which  he  related  of 
the  prisoner.  Of  course,  the  Commonwealth 
wanted  to  show  that  the  prisoner  had  been  there  ; 
that  he  knew  this  house ;  that  he  was  in  the  habit 
of  visiting  it ;  that  he  was  not  a  stranger  to  Pite- 
zel.  This  was  one  of  the  steps  in  that  direction, 
and  therefore  Mr.  Smith  was  asked  to  relate  what 
occurred  on  the  occasion  of  one  of  his  visits  to 
this  store.  He  had  visited  this  store  before  the 
Monday  and  Tuesday  to  which  I  have  called  your 
attention.  He  says,  "  I  went  in  there  ;  I  had  some 
business  with  Mr.  Pitezel.  While  I  was  there, 
this  prisoner  came  into  the  room  and,  with  some 
sign  or  motion,  that  called  Pitezel's  attention,  he 
passed  directly  on."  He  seemed  to  be  familiar 
with  the  place — to  be  no  stranger  there.  He 
knew  where  to  go ;  that  house  was  no  un- 
known place  to  him.  Pitezel  was  his  tool,  his 
creature,  and  with  a  wink,  or  a  nod,  or  a  beck,  or 
whatever  it  might  be  called,  he  silently  sum- 
moned him  to  attend  him,  and  then  passed,  as  the 
witness  said,  through  this  door  (indicating  on  the 
plan  of  the  house)  up  the  stairs.  He  was  asked 
by  the  prisoner,  "  Well,  did  you  see  me  pass  up 

the  stairs?"     Of  course  he  did  not.     The   wit- 
22 


382     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

ness  said  what  any  witness  would  say  under  those 
circumstances, — "  I  saw  him — that  door  being 
open,  and  the  stairs  being  there  and  starting  at 
the  door,  and  my  chair  being  down  near  the  front 
of  the  room  with  a  direct  view  to  the  door — I  saw 
him  pass  and  turn  in  that  direction."  Of  course, 
that  meant,  speaking  about  such  an  event  as  you 
or  I  or  any  other  person  would,  that  he  saw  him 
pass  upstairs.  That  is  what  he  meant.  There 
was  no  other  exit  in  that  direction,  but  to  go  up- 
stairs. But  the  prisoner,  with  insistance,  thought 
he  had  made  a  point  upon  Mr.  Smith  that  might 
effect  his  credibility  and  said,  "  Did  you  see  me  go 
upstairs?  How  could  you  see  me  go  upstairs 
when  the  stairs  are  not  in  view  from  where  you 
sat?"  Why  it  was  perfectly  plain.  He  saw  him 
turn  in  that  direction,  and  possibly  step  upon  the 
first  step ;  that  would  be  within  the  line  of  his 
vision,  and  therefore  he  would  say,  I  saw  you  go- 
ing upstairs  to  the  upper  story. 

But,  gentlemen,  that  is  only  a  little  incident  in 
the  case,  and  is  of  very  minor  importance ; 
whether  or  not  they  went  up  in  the  second  story, 
or  whether  they  went  out  into  the  back  yard, 
does  not  matter  at  all,  so  far  as  the  Common- 
wealth's case  is  concerned.     The  fact   that  this 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      383 

man  Holmes  was  there — the  fact  that  he  was  on 
terms  of  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  pro- 
prietor of  that  place,  and  had  knowledge  of  the 
place  itself  as  shown  in  his  leading  the  way  after 
beckoning  the  deceased  to  follow — these  are  the 
facts  that  rise  out  of  this  little  circumstance,  and 
are  important  as  showing  how  completely  he  was 
at  home  in  Pitezel's  house.  That  was  the  testi- 
mony of  Smith. 

Then  you  will  remember  that  the  prisoner,  who 
had  been  conducting  his  own  case,  interrupted  the 
examination  of  Smith  and  said  that  he  would  like 
to  have  a  plan  of  the  house.  We  complied  with 
his  request  and  called  Marshall  Pugh,  who  was 
employed  in  the  Board  of  Surveys,  one  of  the  City 
Departments,  and  proved  the  making  of  this  plan, 
and  that  it  had  been  correctly  made.  The  exam- 
ination of  Mr.  Smith  was  then  proceeded  with  to 
its  end. 

Our  next  step  was  to  call  Mr.  Ran,  the  photog- 
rapher, who  presented  for  our  better  understand- 
ing of  the  situation,  two  pictures,  one  picture  of 
the  front  of  the  house  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street, 
where  the  body  was  found,  and  the  other  a  picture 
showing  the  rear  of  the  same  house  and  for  our 
information  the  double  window,  in   the   second- 


384     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

story  room,  with  its  large  white  shutters.     These 
photographs  were  then  offered  in  evidence. 

We  then  proceeded  with  the  facts  of  the  case, 
and  called  Dr.  Scott,  whom  you  will  all  remember 
— a  clear,  bright,  intelligent  witness ;  crisp,  plain, 
and  strong  in  his  talk.  He  came  to  the  stand  and 
told  you  what  he  saw  when  he  went  into  No.  1316 
Callowhill  Street,  when  summoned  by  the  officers. 
We  have  the  advantage  in  Dr.  Scott  of  not  simply 
an  ordinary  witness.  We  have  an  intelligent  phy- 
sician ;  an  observing  man,  who  looks  closely  and 
scans  everything  in  that  room  ;  who  takes  partic- 
ular note  of  the  body,  who  pays  particular  atten- 
tion to  everything  there.  He  corroborates  Smith 
in  all  the  details  with  relation  to  the  position  of 
the  body,  and  the  position  of  the  man's  arm,  and 
the  burning  of  the  body,  the  singeing  of  the  mous- 
tache, the  singeing  of  the  hair  on  his  head,  and 
how  the  skin  was  taken  off  his  hands,  how  the 
clothing  over  the  chest  was  burned  through  to  the 
flesh,  and  the  flesh  underneath  burned ;  how,  in 
the  position  in  which  the  arm  was  placed,  the  un- 
der side  of  the  arm  being  against  the  body,  it  was 
absolutely  protected  from  the  flame,  so  that  not  one 
particle  of  fire  touched  the  under  side  of  that  arm ; 
and  demonstrating  that  it  was  burned  while  lying 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     385 

in  that  position  upon  the  body,  and  also  described 
the  skin  hanging  off  the  hand  where  the  fire  and 
flame  had  blistered  it.  He  tells  you  about  these 
points.  He  goes  into  minute  description  of  the 
clothing — how  it  was  tucked  down  into  the 
trousers,  with  nothing  disturbed — everything  as  a 
man  fixes  his  own  clothing  when  about  to  start 
out  upon  the  highway,  or  go  about  his  business. 
He  gives  you  all  these  details,  and  tells  you  how 
reposefuUy  and  how  tranquilly  the  body  was  ar- 
ranged. There  it  lay.  I  want  you  to  remember 
in  this  connection,  gentlemen,  another  circum- 
stance that  may  be  of  some  importance  to  you  in 
arriving  at  the  truth.  When  we  take  up  the 
story  of  this  prisoner,  as  told  in  his  confession,  it 
may  be  important  to  remember  another  thing 
stated  by  the  Doctor.  There  was  a  discharge 
from  the  mouth.  There  was  a  fecal  discharge,  and 
the  bladder  also  was  empty.  These  were  the  re- 
sults of  a  condition  that  comes  on  when  death  is 
imminent — the  relaxation  of  the  involuntary 
muscles  of  the  body,  so  that  what  a  man  could  do 
in  health  to  prevent  these  discharges  could  not  be 
done  in  that  condition,  and  the  contents  of  his 
bowels  and  bladder  flowed  from  him.  That,  gen- 
tlemen of  the  jury,  was  the  condition  of  this  body 


386     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

on  the  second  floor  of  this  house — the  flow  from 
the  mouth,  and  the  other  discharges  from  his  per- 
son, occurred  on  that  floor.  The  dead  man  died 
there.  There  was  no  trace  of  any  discharge  on 
the  tliird-story  floor. 

Dr.  Scott  not  only  testified  to  what  took  place 
at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  but  he  also  testified 
to  what  took  place  at  the  post  mortem  examina- 
tion. You  will  remember  his  testimony.  You 
will  recall  that  he  covered  two  points — what  was 
found  in  the  room  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street  and 
what  Dr.  Mattern  found  in  the  body  at  the  time 
he  made  the  post  mortem  examination  of  it.  He 
told  you  about  the  congested  condition  of  the 
lungs.  He  told  you  about  the  empty  condition 
of  the  heart,  indicating  speedy  death — paralysis 
of  the  heart — that  the  man  died  instantly,  quickly. 
He  told  you  about  the  condition  of  the  stomach, 
the  kidneys,  and  tlie  liver,  these  all  denoting  an 
alcoholic  condition,  showing  that  the  man  was  a 
heavy  drinker  of  alcoholic  stimulants,  and  that 
irritation  of  the  stomach  due  to  alcohol  was  also 
present,  but  that  there  was  no  irritation  there  due 
to  the  action  of  chloroform,  although  he  told  you 
another  thing, — that  there  were  about  two  ounces 
of  chloroform  found  in  the  stomach.    The  doctors 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     387 

both  told  you  the  smell  was  strong,  and  could  not 
be  mistaken.  Otherwise  the  stomach  was  what 
they  call  an  empty  stomach.  That  does  not 
mean  literally  void  of  every  particle  of  food,  but 
practically  an  empty  stomach.  There  was  mucus 
there,  but  remember  he  testified  that  that  chloro- 
form in  the  stomach  had  not  produced  any  irrita- 
tion of  the  membrane  or  lining  of  the  stomach — 
not  a  particle.  That  chloroform  in  the  stomach 
had  never  produced  the  slightest  effect  upon  the 
dead  man.     That  was  Dr.  Scott's  testimony. 

Maintaining  the  order  of  proof,  we  next  call 
Dr.  Mattern :  Dr.  Mattern  told  you  very  much 
the  same  things  that  Dr.  Scott  did.  He  repeated 
to  you  the  story  of  the  post  mortem  examination 
of  the  body  of  Pitezel.  He  told  you  of  the  con- 
gested condition  of  the  lungs.  He  told  you  of 
the  condition  of  the  heart,  the  condition  of  the 
stomach,  the  liver,  the  kidneys,  and  all  the  vis- 
cera. The  result  of  the  examination  of  the  body 
of  this  man  was  to  enable  these  doctors  to  say  to 
you,  as  a  positive  fact  in  this  case,  and  one  that 
is  not  disputed,  for  there  is  no  one  to  contradict 
the  statements  that  they  make,  (and  that  is  one 
of  the  things  it  is  important  for  you  to  remember) 
— that  this  man  died  from  chloroform  poisoning. 


388     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

That  you  have  an  undisputed  fact  in  this  case. 
He  was  poisoned  with  chloroform  ;  there  is  no 
doubt  about  the  cause  of  his  death.  That  is  a 
fact  that  stands  before  you  undisputed.  This 
man  died  from  the  effects  of  chloroform.  It  was 
chloroform  poisoning  that  took  away  his  life,  so 
that,  although  you  may  find  in  the  description 
given  by  Dr.  Scott,  and  by  Mr.  Smith,  that  there 
was  an  attempt  to  create  an  appearance  in  the 
room  where  the  body  was  found  whicb  would  lead 
one  into  the  belief  that  an  explosion  had  taken 
place  in  that  building,  you  are  freed  from  the  fur- 
ther consideration  of  all  idea  of  an  explosion  hav- 
ing taken  place.  Indeed  it  is  admitted  that  no 
explosion  killed  this  man.  While  it  is  true  that 
the  flames  touched  his  clothing,  and  partially  con- 
sumed it,  and  burned  and  blistered  his  flesh, — yet 
they  did  not  kill  him.  While  the  broken  jar,  and 
the  other  evidences  of  that  explosion  were  pres- 
ent, they  were  artificially  produced  by  somebody 
with  the  intention  to  mislead  and  deceive.  There 
was  no  explosion.  Holmes  now  admits  that  he 
himself  broke  this  jar,  and  Doctor  Scott  demon- 
strated the  fact  that  it  had  not  exploded.  Even 
the  smartest,  even  the  brightest,  even  the  keenest 
criminal  will  make  mistakes,  and  when  Holmes 


AEGU3IENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     389 

broke  that  jar,  he  broke  it  leaving  the  glass  par- 
ticles or  fragments  lying  inside  the  bottle,  whereas 
an  explosion  would  have  scattered  them  all  about 
the  room.  I  want  you  to  remember,  therefore, 
gentlemen,  at  this  stage  of  the  argument,  that  the 
Commonwealth  has  established  one  fact  beyond 
contradiction,  which  is  that  this  dead  man  was 
killed  by  the  use  of  chloroform  poisoning.  Two 
witnesses  have  sworn  to  this  fact — no  one  has 
contradicted  them — and  the  defence  admits  that 
this  was  the  cause  of  death. 

The  next  witness  was  a  very  important  wit- 
ness in  this  case.  I  will  now  simply  call  your 
attention  to  what  he  testified  to,  and  to  the  sub- 
ject upon  which  he  testified,  for  I  do  not  propose 
to  discuss  the  effect  of  his  testimony  at  this  point. 
I  refer  to  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Henry  Leffman, 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  analytical  chemists 
perhaps  in  this  country — a  man  of  fine  scientific 
attainments,  of  splendid  intelligence  and  culture. 
He  comes  upon  the  stand  and  gives  to  you  his 
story  as  an  expert  upon  the  subject  of  chloroform, 
and  states  certain  facts  to  you,  to  which  I  will 
advert  in  a  short  time,  and  by  the  help  of  which 
I  will  discover  to  you,  not  only  that  this  man  was 
poisoned   with   chloroform   poison,   but  that  that 


390     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY 

chloroform  poison  was  not  self-administered.  In 
other  words  that  the  deceased  did  not  commit 
suicide. 

After  Dr.  Leffman,  comes  Samuel  H.  Ash- 
bridge,  the  Coroner.  You  will  remember,  of 
course,  that  he  did  not  testify  to  any  facts  from 
his  own  knowledge.  That  was  not  the  object  in 
calling  him.  The  Commonwealth  was  talking  a 
second  step  in  the  progress  of  this  case.  It  had  pro- 
duced the  evidence  of  the  finding  of  a  dead  man, 
and  that  this  dead  man  had  been  poisoned.  It 
had  shown  by  the  aid  of  Dr.  Leffman,  and  the 
circumstances  of  the  finding  of  the  body  and  the 
post  mortem  examination,  that  he  was  not  self 
poisoned.  Now  the  Commonwealth  must  proceed 
to  show  you,  for  we  can  assume  nothing,  that  that 
dead  man  was  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  the  man 
named  in  this  indictment  as  the  subject  of  this 
murder.  We  called  Coroner  Ashbridge ;  why  ? 
We  could  not  call  Alice  Pitezel,  the  child  who 
identified  him  before  the  Coroner ;  we  could  not 
call  her  to  prove  that  that  stiff  and  disfigured 
corpse,  upon  which  her  young  eyes  gazed  at  the 
Potter's  field,  was  the  body  of  her  dead  father. 
We  could  not  produce  her  for  that  purpose,  for 
the  mother  had  told  us  that  the  last  she  saw  of 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     391 

her  was  her  dead  body  in  the  morgue  in  the 
city  of  Toronto,  in  a  foreign  jurisdiction.  No, 
that  piece  of  evidence  the  Commonwealth  could 
not  produce,  but  the  Commonwealth  proceeds 
formally,  and  in  an  orderly  manner,  to  establish 
to  your  satisfaction  that  this  body  was  the  body 
of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  Is  it  not  strong  proof  to 
take  the  prisoner's  own  statement  for  it?  Is  it 
not  beginning  at  a  good  point  to  ask  the  Coroner 
to  identify  the  prisoner's  own  affidavit,  in  which 
he  swore  that  that  was  the  body  of  Benjamin  F. 
Pitezel  that  lay  in  that  upper  room  ?  Fortunately 
for  us,  for  the  prisoner  was  the  man  who  handed 
it  to  the  Coroner,  and  so  made  it  evidence  against 
him,  we  were  able  to  get  Alice  Pitezel's  affidavit 
on  that  point,  as  delivered  by  him  to  the  Coroner. 
By  Coroner  Ashbridge  we  begin  to  establish  the 
second  point,  and  take  the  second  important  step 
by  proving  the  identity  of  this  corpse. 

But,  gentlemen,  we  did  not  stop  with  the  two 
affidavits,  one  made  by  this  prisoner,  and  the 
other  by  Alice  Pitezel.  The  Commonwealth  had 
abundant  evidence,  I  think,  to  prove  that  this  was 
Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  We  determined  to  do  it 
thoroughly,  for  we  did  not  know  how  much  of  an 
attack  would  be  made  by  the  defence  upon  the 


392     ARGU3IENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

question  of  identity.  We  had  no  knowledge 
where  the  attack  might  be  made,  and  as  this 
seemed  to  be  one  of  the  points  threatened,  we 
marshalled  one  bit  of  evidence  after  another, 
until  there  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any- 
one about  the  body  of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  That 
it  was  his  body  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Let  me  say 
to  you  once  more  gentlemen,  and  let  it  be  said  so 
as  to  set  at  rest  this  question  forever,  the  man 
who  was  sent  from  time  into  eternity  in  that  sec- 
ond-story room  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street  was 
Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  the  companion,  the  friend, 
the  colleague  of  the  prisoner  who  sits  in  the  dock, 
and  he  knows  it  as  well  as  I,  for  he  identified  him 
to  the  Coroner,  and  he  took  the  dead  man's  little 
daughter  there  to  swear  that  it  was  her  father's 
body. 

We  next  went  into  the  neighborhood ;  we  pro- 
duced William  Moebins,  a  bar  tender  in  Mr. 
Richards'  saloon.  He  waited  upon  Perry,  as 
Pitezel  was  called  while  living  in  Callowhill 
Street,  the  Saturday  night  before  his  body  was 
found.  He  had  seen  him  before.  He  had  seen 
him  in  there,  talking  with  Mr,  Richards,  the 
saloon  keeper,  and  he  knew  Mr.  Perry — Mr.  B. 
F.  Perry.     Now,  of  course,  it  would  have  done  us 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     393 

very  little  good  to  have  simply  stopped  there,  and 
proved  that  this  was  B.  F.  Perry,  who  lived  in 
that  house,  but  we  go  a  step  further,  and  we  hand 
this  picture  to  him,  and  ask  him,  "  Is  this  the 
picture  of  the  man  that  you  knew  as  B.  F. 
Perry  ?  "  (handing  to  the  witness  the  picture  of 
Pitezel.)  He  said,  "Yes,  that  is  the  picture  of 
the  man  I  knew  as  B.  F.  Perry."  So  we  estab- 
lished clearly  that  that  man  who  lived  in  No.  1316 
Callowhill  Street  as  B.  F.  Perry  was  B.  F.  Pitezel. 

We  called  the  last  witness's  employer,  the  sa- 
loon keeper  himself,  Mr.  Richards.  Mr.  Richards 
had  changed  two  ten  dollar  bills  for  him  that  day, 
the  Saturday  before  the  murder,  the  Saturday  be- 
fore this  body  was  found,  and  he  says  he  knew 
Benjamin  F.  Perry.  He  was  asked,  "  Is  that  the 
picture  of  the  man  you  knew  as  Benjamin  F. 
Perry  ?  "  and  he  replied,  "  It  is."  That  is  Pite- 
zel's  picture.  Another  witness  says  Pitezel  and 
Perry  are  one. 

We  also  called  Mr.  Hubbard  and  Mr.  Lampen, 
and  they  established  that  this  picture  was  the  pic- 
ture of  Perry.  Well,  now,  all  that,  gentlemen,  is 
persuasive,  but  it  only  goes  part  of  the  way  in  es- 
tablishing the  identity  of  the  corpse,  for  I  want  to 
discuss  this  testimony  with  you  frankly,  and  as  I 


394     ARGmiENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

would  with  my  own  self,  trying  to  ascertain  only 
the  truth.  We  prove  but  a  single  fact,  to  wit,  that 
B.  F.  Perry  and  B.  F.  Pitezel  are  the  same.  You 
understand  that  that  proves  the  identity  of  one 
person  under  these  two  names,  which  is  corrobo- 
rative only,  of  the  identity  of  the  body  that  was 
found  there.  But  we  went  further,  and  now, 
abandoning  for  an  instant  the  order  of  proof,  I 
wish  to  call  your  attention  to  this  fact.  Not  only 
were  these  five  or  six  neighbors  called  to  prove 
that  Perry  was  Pitezel,  but  we  produced  the 
patrol  sergeant  of  police.  And  here  came  in  a 
new  kind  of  testimony.  The  other  witnesses  had 
looked  on  the  living  man  called  B.  F.  Perry,  and 
then  they  had  looked  upon  this  picture,  and  said, 
"  The  man  who  was  living  was  the  same  man 
whose  picture  you  present  to  us."  But  Police 
Sergeant  Sauer  comes  upon  the  stand,  and  he  is 
asked  the  question,  "  Were  you  in  that  room  that 
day  ?  "  He  says,  "  Yes."  He  was  asked,  "  Did 
you  see  the  man  that  lay  stretched  out  on  the 
floor  ?  "  He  says,  "  Yes,  the  body  was  beginning 
to  decompose ;  it  was  considerably  discolored," 
and  all  that.  He  was  asked  further,  "  But  are  you 
able  to  identify  that  picture?"  Why,  you  re- 
member gentlemen  how  that  man  told  you  he  was 


ABGmiENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     395 

standing  or  sitting  over  there  in  this  court  room 
among  the  witnesses  for  the  Commonwealth,  when 
he  happened  to  see  this  picture,  as  it  was  handled 
before  you  and  identified  by  the  witnesses,  and 
subsequently  placed  by  me  standing  upright  on 
that  desk  and  facing  where  he  sat,  and  identified 
it  as  the  likeness  of  the  dead  man  from  that  distant 
point.  "  Why,  that  is  a  picture  of  the  man  I  saw 
lying  on  the  floor  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street," 
he  stated  to  you  when  placed  on  the  witness  stand. 
That  is  identification.  That  picture  of  B.  F. 
Pitezel  is  the  picture  of  the  man  who  was  killed 
by  the  use  of  chloroform  poison  in  No.  1316  Callow- 
hill  Street. 

But,  gentlemen,  we  did  not  stop  even  there  in 
our  efforts  at  identification.  Not  only  has  Holmes 
or  Mudgett  identified  him  ;  not  only  has  Alice 
Pitezel  identified  him  ;  not  only  have  these  half 
dozen  people  said  Perry  and  Pitezel  were  the 
same ;  not  only  has  the  police  sergeant  told  you 
that  that  picture  was  the  picture  of  the  man  who 
was  poisoned ;  but  we  go  out  to  the  grave  itself, 
and  from  its  dark  recesses,  we  bring  forth  silent 
but  persuasive  testimony  on  the  question  of  iden- 
tity. Pieces  of  the  clothing  that  was  around  the 
dead   body  were   taken   from   it  by  the  Doctor. 


396     ARGU3IENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

Here  is  a  piece  of  the  shirt  that  this  man  wore ; 
poor  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  called  back  again  to  that 
stand,  and  you  may  remember  the  broken  sobs 
with  which  slie  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  that's  Benny's 
shirt  that  he  took  with  him  Avhen  he  left  St.  Louis 
for  Philadelphia."  That  burned  fragment  is 
part  of  the  clothing  that  the  wife  identifies  as 
that  of  her  husband's,  buried  with  the  body,  deep 
down  in  that  dark  grave,  it  comes  forth  to  the  liv- 
ing light  to  proclaim  that  the  body  resting  there 
was  not  the  "  stiff "  gotten  from  New  York,  but 
was  the  body  of  Holmes'  friend,  Benjamin  F. 
Pitezel. 

Look  at  this  necktie ;  the  necktie  of  a  poor 
man.  This  has  been  disfigured  by  being  in  the 
grave,  for  it  was  taken  from  his  dead  body.  Mrs. 
Pitezel  said  it  was  Benny's.  Dessie,  the  daugh- 
ter, comes  upon  the  stand,  and  tells  you  a  little 
incident  that  must  have  impressed  you  with  its 
truthfulness.  One  part  of  the  necktie  is  better 
than  the  rest,  you  observe,  and  she  says,  "  I  asked 
papa  before  he  left,  one  day,  if  he  wouldn't  let  me 
take  that  lower  portion  to  put  into  a  crazy  quilt." 
What  more  natural  than  for  a  girl  to  do  that  very 
thing  ?  That  piece  of  silk  that  was  fresh  and 
clean,  because  it  had  been  covered  by  the  vest 


f/' 


Fac-Simile  of  Letter  from  "Jim"  to  Holmes. 


■X 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     399 

and  the  coat  when  worn  and  was  thus  protected 
and  preserved — she  wanted  to  cut  off  that  portion 
to  make  up  into  a  crazy  quilt,  just  as  girls  will 
do.  She  says,  "  That's  my  father's  necktie." 
Does  anyone  doubt  it  ? 

The  trousers  were  identified  in  the  same  way. 

So  that,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  out  of  the  very 
tomb  comes  the  voice  of  identification,  confirming 
what  all  these  living  witnesses  have  said,  and  what 
the  police  sergeant  has  so  emphatically  said  "  This 
is  Pitezel."     Pitezel's  identification  is  complete. 

So   the   Commonwealth  has  taken   the  second 

step  in  this  trial.     It  has  reached  another  point  of 

advance.     It  has  proved  to  your  satisfaction  that 

this  man  was  killed  by  chloroform  poison.     It  has 

proved,  in  addition,  that  the   man  who  was  thus 

killed  was  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  the  friend  of  this 

prisoner.     Before  finally  leaving  the   question  of 

identity,  I  simply,  in  a  word,  call  your  attention 

to  what  took  place  in  the   Potter's  Field;   you 

will  remember  that  the  body  was  exhumed  in  the 

presence  of  Dr.  Mattern,  Mr.  Fouse,  Mr.  Perry, 

the  prisoner,  Jeptha  D.  Howe,  of  St.  Louis,  and 

Alice  Pitezel,  whom,  the  prisoner  had  taken  from 

her  mother,  and  sent  in  company  with   Howe  to 

Philadelphia,  and  whom  he  had   with  him  up  at 
23 


400     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTBIOi   ATTORNEY. 

No.  1905  N.  11th  Street  at  that  boarding  house. 
He  had  taken  her  out  to  the  Potter's  Field.  This 
body  was  identified  by  the  marks  upon  it,  the 
wart  upon  the  back  of  the  neck,  the  mark  across 
the  bone  below  the  knee,  the  bruised  finger,  the 
color  of  the  hair  and  of  the  mustache.  It  was 
there  identified  as  the  body  of  Pitezel  again. 

Now  after  this  testimony  had  been  offered,  the 
next  witness  was  Dr.  Alcorn.  You  will  recall 
Mrs.  Alcorn  ;  she  kept  a  boarding  house  at  No. 
1905  N.  11th  Street,  at  which  Holmes  boarded 
with  Miss  Yoke,  under  the  name  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Howell.  She  came  upon  the  stand  to  prove  that 
he  was  there,  and  to  prove  that  Miss  Yoke  was 
there  as  Mrs.  Howell,  as  she  honestly  believed 
herself  to  be;  to  prove  the  length  of  time  that  he 
was  there,  from  the  beginning  of  August — about 
the  first  week  in  August — down  to  that  fateful 
second  day  of  September,  and  to  prove  that  he 
left  this  city  hurriedly,  quickly,  on  that  second 
da}'  of  September  1894,  although  his  wife  was 
sick,  and  part  of  the  time  confined  to  bed,  unable 
to  be  up  and  about — not  in  a  fit  condition  to  take 
a  long  journey — yet  on  that  Sunday  night,  that 
fateful  Sunday  night,  when  this  man  was  killed 
in  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  Holmes  in  company 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     401 

with  his  wife  practically  fled  from  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  and  went  out  to  the  West.  Think 
of  the  circumstances  under  which  he  left!  Not 
those  of  an  honest  man,  travelling  in  the  ordinary 
way.  You  or  I  would  have  said  to  Mrs.  Alcorn, 
"  It's  none  of  your  business,  Madam,  if  we  did 
not  wish  to  tell  her  where  we  were  going";  but 
that  is  not  the  characteristic  of  this  man ;  wher- 
ever a  lie  could  serve  the  purpose,  he  preferred  it 
to  the  truth.  But  he  had  a  reason  for  concealing, 
if  possible,  where  he  was  going,  fearing  subse- 
quent inquiry  as  to  what  his  destination  would 
be,  so  he  told  Miss  Yoke  to  say  so,  and  he  himself 
told  Mrs.  Alcorn,  "  We  are  going  to  Harrisburg," 
when  in  point  of  fact,  they  were  not,  but  took  the 
10:25  train  for  Indianapolis. 

Why  did  he  go  away  hastily?  Why  did  he 
conceal  the  place  of  his  destination  ?  Was  it  be- 
cause all  that  transpired  on  that  Sunday  in  No. 
1316  Callowhill  Street  was  haunting  him  and  pur- 
suing him  ?  As  lie  tells  you,  he  came  into  Miss 
Yoke  in  an  excited  condition  ;  he  helped  to  pack 
her  trunk  ;  he  hastened  to  catch  the  10:25  train, 
and  left  Philadelphia  leaving  a  lie  behind  him  at 
the  boarding  house,  as  to  where  he  v/as  going. 
That  was  Mrs.  Alcorn's  testimony. 


402     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

The  next  witness  called  was  John  Grammar. 
You  will  remember  that  he  lived  in  the  same 
house  ;  that  he  was  one  of  the  boarders  in  Mrs. 
Alcorn's  house,  and  he  corroborates  what  she  says 
as  to  their  residence  there,  and  their  time  of  leav- 
ing. 

Then  came  three  witnesses  upon  the  question 
of  identification.  I  have  already  adverted  to  what 
their  testimony  was.  One  witness  procured  Perry 
or  Pitezel  his  boarding  house.  Mrs.  Harley,  with 
whom  he  boarded,  identified  his  picture.  Miss 
Alice  Pierce,  who  kept  the  cigar  store,  testified  as 
to  how  he  came  in  to  buy  cigars,  identifying  him. 

We  then  took  up  another  branch  of  the  case — 
the  insurance  conspiracy.  Mr.  Perry  was  called. 
He  began  to  tell  the  story  of  the  insurance  con- 
spiracy  ;  the  policy  of  insurance  was  identified  ;  a 
policy  issued  on  the  life  of  B.  F.  Pitezel ;  the  re- 
ceipt was  also  identified,  showing  the  settlement 
that  was  made,  and  how,  by  reason  of  this  con- 
spiracy, nearly  110,000  were  taken  out  of  the 
treasury  of  that  company.  This  is  only  an  inci- 
dent. The  insurance  matter,  except  as  it  plays  the 
part  of  being  the  beginning  of  these  occurrences, 
each  connected  with  tlie  death  of  Pitezel,  and 
sheds  light  on  the  motive  of  the  prisoner,  is  prac- 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     403 

tically  uniiuportant.  The  insurance  company  it- 
self is  not  a  factor  in  this  case.  The  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania  is  the  prosecutor.  The 
insurance  company  has  nuthing  whatever  to  do 
with  it,  beyond  having  been  the  victim  of  the  con- 
spiracy and  having  paid  its  money  upon  the  policy 
of  insurance,  on  Pitezel's  life. 

The  money  was  paid.  The  conspiracy  had  been 
successful  appaiently.  Holmes  was  profiting  by 
the  result.  Pitezel  was  dead,  and  out  of  the  way, 
and  very  soon  his  widow  and  children  were  taken 
on  a  curious  journey,  and  the  effort  is  made  by 
the  prisoner  to  conceal  everything  pertaining  to 
the  family. 

Mr.  Gary  comes  upon  the  stand,  and  gives  us 
an  inkling  as  to  how  the  conspiracy  was  first  dis- 
covered awa}^  out  in  the  St.  Louis  jail.  Hedge - 
peth,  a  fellow  prisoner  with  this  man,  to  wliom 
part  of  the  proceeds  had  been  promised,  tells  the 
Cliief  of  Police  of  St.  Louis  that  he  and  Pitezel 
and  others  had  perpetrated  a  fraud  upon  the  insur- 
ance company.  Gary  interviews  him.  What  was 
said  in  that  interview  is  not  given  in  evidence  to 
you,  but  in  consequence  of  that  interview,  search 
is  made  for  this  man,  the  prisoner,  and  an  earnest 
effort  was  made  to  find  him,  only,  at  that  time,  be- 


404     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

cause  it  was  supposed  tliat  he  was  guilty  of  a 
fraud  and  a  cheat,  and  that  he  had  succeeded  in 
cheating  the  insurance  company  out  of  money. 
The  search  for  him  led  through  the  States,  up  into 
Canada,  back  into  the  States  again,  and  finally  n[) 
to  Boston,  where  he  was  arrested  and  brought 
back  to  Pliiladelphia.  Then  it  was  that  we 
proved  that  part  of  our  case  to  which  Mr.  Hans- 
corn,  the  Deputy  Superintendent,  from  Boston, 
has  testified.  Holmes  was  not  arrested  in  Boston 
upon  this  charge  of  cheatii]g  the  insurance  com- 
pany, but  was  arrested  npon  another  charge — that 
of  being  a  horse  thief.  He  was  accused  of  being  a 
horse  thief,  who  was  wanted  in  Texas.  He  was 
wanted  in  Texas  to  be  dealt  with  according  to 
their  law,  upon  the  information  that  he  was  a 
horse  thief.  He  was  arrested  in  Boston,  held 
there  until  he  voluntarily  said  to  the  Chief,  fear- 
ing the  kind  of  Southern  justice  that  is  meted  out 
to  horse  thieves,  for  they  do  not  stand  in  high  fa- 
vor in  the  South,  or  among  the  rural  populations, 
the  prisoner  bethought  himself,  "  Well,  all  they 
have  got  on  me  in  Philadelphia  is  the  charge  of 
conspiracy,  for  which  I  will  get  two  years'  impris- 
onment at  the  outside;  I  will- be  comfortably 
housed  and  fed  and  taken  care  of,  and  at  the  end 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     405 

of  two  years,  I'll  get  out  again,  and  probably  es- 
cape this  pending  accusation  down  at  Fort  Worth, 
Texas,"  and  so — shrewd,  skillful  fellow  that  he  is, 
he  says  to  the  Chief  of  Police,  "  I'll  volunteer  to 
go  to  Philadelphia."  It  speaks  well  for  the  hospi- 
tality of  our  City.  He  preferred  it  to  Texas. 
He  was  willing  to  go  to  Philadelphia.  It  did  not 
need  any  warrant  to  bring  him  here.  He  was  not 
waiting  for  any  requisition  from  the  Governor  of  • 
Pennsylvania  upon  the  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, asking  for  the  return  of  Hermann  W.  Mud- 
gett,  alias  H.  H.  Holmes.  These  formalities  were 
dispensed  with.  Ho  said,  *'  I'll  go  to  Philadel- 
phia," and  Detective  Crawford  brought  him  to 
Philadelphia.  Before  he  left  the  city  of  Boston, 
he  made  a  statement  to  Mr.  Perry.  He  confessed 
the  fraud  that  had  been  perpetrated  upon  the  in- 
surance company,  and  voluntarily  and  of  his  own 
free  will  and  accord,  told  Mr.  Perry  about  this 
cheat  and  this  fraud.  You  remember,  I  am  sure, 
what  Mr.  Perry  related  as  his  statement  to  him. 
It  was  to  the  effect  that  himself  and  Pitezel,  and 
Jeptha  Howe,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Hedgepeth,  who 
was  in  jail,  had  joined  in  a  conspiracy  to  cheat 
the  insurance  company,  and  he  said  that  they  had 
sent  to  New  York  to  procure  a  dead  body  that 


406     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

would  look  as  much  like  Pitezel  a^i  possible,  and 
that  they  were  going  to  use  that  dead  body,  and 
that  they  did  use  it,  and  tliat  Pitezel  himself,  you 
Avill  remember,  was  living  and  in  South  America 
at  that  time,  and  had  the  boy,  little  Howard,  with 
him.  That  is  his  first  story.  I  want  you  to  listen 
to  these  statements.  They  are  marvellous  produc- 
tions in  the  line  of  fiction  ;  they  are  wonderful 
statements,  with  scarcely  an  element  of  truth  in 
them.  The  facility  with  which  this  man  could 
utter  one  falsehood  after  another  must  be  appar- 
ent to  you  in  your  observation  of  this  testimony, 
and  from  the  statements  that  you  have  heard,  not 
only  from  the  officials,  but  from  the  lips  of  this 
pure,  good  woman,  whom  he  called  his  wife,  Miss 
Yoke.  Think  of  it !  Think  of  it !  Think  of  tlie 
deception  and  the  falsehood  !  Think  of  his  deceit 
to  her  I  He  meets  her  in  St.  Louis.  He  is  gohig 
to  engage  her  as  his  wife.  He  then  tells  her  the 
story  of  a  fictitious  uncle,  with  his  millions,  or 
whatever  the  estate  may  have  been,  and  who  had 
requested  that  he,  H.  H.  Holmes,  should  take  the 
name  of  Henrj^  Mansfield  Howard,  and  thence- 
forth be  known  as  his  heir.  He  enters  into  one 
of  the  most  sacred  relations  in  life  with  deception 
and  deceit   upun   him.     He  marries  her  as  Henry 


ARGmiENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     407 

Mansfield  Howard.  Then  he  goes  down  to  Fort 
Worth  masquerading  as  Pratt.  "  Why,"  said 
he  to  this  confiding  woman,  "I  have  been  out 
to  one  of  tlie  ranches  that  my  uncle  left ;  " — one 
of  those  ranches  of  this  fictitious  uncle — a  ficti- 
tious ranch, — "  and  fonnd  squatters  down  there, 
and  you  know  the  people  of  the  South  favor 
squatters  more  than  the  people  of  the  North  do  ; 
so  it  wouldn't  be  safe  for  me  to  be  known  as  Mr. 
Henry  Mansfield  Howard,  the  heir  of  my  uncle, 
and  the  claimant  of  this  ranch  ;  oh,  no !  "  Then 
he  masquerades  as  Pratt.  In  the  line  of  this 
story,  during  all  his  journeys,  he  never  once  places 
his  own  name  upon  the  register  of  a  hotel,  and 
never  once  places  upon  the  register  the  real  name 
of  anyone  that  is  with  him.  Lies  supply  the  place 
of  the  truth  at  every  point,  and  false  registry  is 
the  order  of  his  journey  at  every  hotel.  Upon 
every  step,  from  point  to  point,  as  we  go  through 
this  evidence,  we  find  Mudgett,  alias  Holmes,  a 
fabricator  and  a  falsifier. 

But  this  is  a  degression,  so  I  ask  your  attention 
to  his  statement  again.  He  tells  you  that  a  body 
was  substituted.  Was  there  a  body  substituted  ? 
Don't  you  believe  with  me  that  that  man  (point- 
ing to   Pitezel's  picture)  was  the  man  who  was 


408     ARGUME\*r  OF   THE   DISTRICT  ATTORNEV. 

buried  in  Potter's  Field?  Don't  you  think  with 
nie  that  that  man  was  the  man  whose  body  was 
fijund  in  tliat  second  story  room  ?  Lie  No.  1. 
But  he  says,  "B.  F.  Pitezel  is  down  in  South 
America,  and  he  has  little  Howard  with  him." 
Oh,  gentlemen,  that  is  an  awful,  a  frightful  state- 
ment. What  fearful  twisting  and  destruction  of 
the  truth!  Pitezel  in  South  America !  He  had 
seen  his  body  taken  up  out  of  the  Potter's  Field, 
and  made  little  Alice  testify  that  it  was  the  body 
of  her  father — down  in  South  America !  It  is  a 
wonder  that  the  lie  did  not  scorch  his  lips,  as  the 
flames  scorched  the  dead  body  of  Pitezel  and  con- 
sumed the  flesh.  Little  Howard  with  his  father 
in  South  America !  Gentlemen,  think  of  it,  and 
then  recall  in  that  connection  the  broken  utter- 
ances of  that  poor  woman,  Mrs.  Pitezel,  as  she  was 
about  to  leave  the  stand,  when  she  said,  in  answer 
to  the  question  where  did  you  see  Howard  last  ? 
" I  last  saw  little  Howaid's  belongings  in  the  cor- 
oner's office  in  Indianapolis."  Little  Howard  in 
South  America  with  his  father !  God  help  such  a 
liar! 

But  he  is  not  done  yet.  I  now  call  attention 
to  his  statement  to  Mr.  Hanscom.  I  am  not 
going  to  repeat  all  this  statement  of  his  to  Mr. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     409 

Hanscom.  I  do  not  want  to  weary  you,  but  I  do 
feel  obliged  to  go  over  the  testimony  at  some 
length  in  the  performance  of  what  I  conceive  to 
be  a  solemn  duty.  Therefore  1  ask  you  j^atiently 
to  listen  to  me  while  I  call  your  attention  to  a 
few  more  of  the  things  which  this  man  has  said. 

A  statement  was  made  by  him  in  Boston,  and 
was  taken  down  at  that  city.  Mr,  Hanscom,  the 
police  official,  who  came  upon  this  stand,  told  you 
how  it  was  taken  by  Miss  Annie  Rtjbbins,  a  ste- 
nographer, word  for  word.  We  do  not  depend 
upon  the  frailt}^  of  human  memory  to  recall  what 
this  man  said  in  this  instance.  It  comes  to  us 
with  all  the  strength  and  power  of  a  written 
statement,  taken  down  question  and  answer,  just 
as  it  transpired  in  that  office  in  Boston,  where  he 
poured  out  new  fabrications  for  the  purpose  of 
misleading  and  deceiving.  He  was  examined  as 
follows :  By  Mr.  Hanscom  :  "  Q.  What  is  Pite- 
zel's  name?  A.  B.  F.,  I  think — Benjamin  Fuller. 
Q.  When  did  you  last  see  him  ?  A.  I  can't  give 
you  the  da3^  I'll  leave  a  blank  and  fill  it  in." 
Oh,  how  sly  and  sharp  he  is — how  skillful  in 
fencing  in  his  answers !  Mr.  Hanscom  says : 
"  State  it  in  your  own  way.  A.  Well,  I  saw  liim 
last  in  Detroit.     It  was  in  the  neighborhood  of 


410     ARGUMENT  OF   THE   DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

three  weeks  ago,  but  I  can  give  you  the  exact 
date  by  consulting  my  wife."  The  alleged  wife 
who  was  with  him  then  was  Mrs.  Howard.  She 
has  been  on  tlie  stand.  Did  he  consult  her  as  to 
that  date,  when  he  had  seen  Mr.  Pitezel  alive  in 
the  city  of  Detroit  ?  Did  he  make  any  effort  to 
find  out  the  date?  Not  a  single  one.  Why,  gen- 
tlemen, no  effort  was  made  solely  because  he 
knew  that  Pitezel  was  then  rotting  in  his  grave, 
and  was  not  in  Detroit.  He  could  gain  nothing 
by  consulting  or  questioning  tliis  woman.  She 
had  not  seen  him  in  Detroit.  He  had  never  seen 
him  in  Detroit;  that  was  a  falsehood  told  to  mis- 
lead the  authorities.  He  was  then  asked,  "  Do 
you  know  where  he  was  stop[)ing  in  Detroit  ? " 
'*  A.  No,  I  don't  know ;  he  had  been  there  several 
days  waiting  for  me  to  come  there."  Would  he 
not  have  known  where  he  was  stopping?  Why 
did  he  not  name  some  hotel  and  thus  seem  candid 
in  his  answer?  He  was  afraid  the  officers  might 
send  to  the  hotel  to  find  out.  He  is  covering  it 
up.  "  Q.  When  was  the  last  time  before  tliat 
that  you  saw  him  ?  "  "  A.  Well,  I  had  not  seen 
him  but  once  since  this  Philadelphia  occurrence." 
(Quoting  further  from  the  statements  made  in 
Boston.) 


ARGUMENT  OF  TEE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY,     411 

He  told  Mr.  Hanscom  that  he  had  seen  Pitezel 
in  Philadelphia,  and  having  procured  a  corpse  in 
New  York,  had  packed  it  in  a  trunk,  and  that  he 
put  that  trunk  on  the  express,  and  had  given  the 
check  for  it  to  Pitezel.  Of  course,  he  made  it 
near  the  first  Sunday  in  September.  He  was 
telling  a  falsehood  for  the  purpose  of  misleading 
the  officer,  and  yet  it  was  with  relation  to  the 
frauds  that  he  had  confessed. 

Gentlemen,  there  is  one  point  in  this  connec- 
tion that  has  always  been  a  subject  of  thought  with 
me,  and  I  conceive  it  to  be  a  strong  argument 
against  this  man  and  his  defence  in  this  case. 
Will  you  follow  me  a  moment,  while  I  point  it 
out.  Remember  that  he  had  confessed  to  the 
story  about  the  fraudulent  insurance.  There 
was  nothing  in  that  to  be  concealed,  because  he 
had  confessed  that  he  was  guilty.  He  had 
cheated  this  company.  He  had  confessed,  and  he 
was  going  back  to  go  into  prison  for  it.  Wh}-, 
under  those  circumstances,  was  it  necessary  for 
him  to  lie  ?  The  truth  would  have  been  sufficient 
then.  It  cannot  be  said  that  it  was  to  get  the 
money  from  the  insurance  company,  for  that  was 
already  secured,  and  was  in  his  pockets.  It  was 
not   for  that  purpose.     Why  did  he  lie?     What 


412     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

was  his  motive  ?  What  was  he  concealing  by  these 
falsehoods  about  Pitezel  living?  The  insurance 
fraud  was  exploded  ;  he  had  confessed  his  guilt  in 
cheating  the  company.  The  money  had  been  re- 
ceived ;  nothing  was  to  be  gained  either  in  the 
way  of  money  or  freedom  from  imprisonment,  for 
he  had  admitted  his  crime,  and  he  was  going  back 
to  Philadelphia  to  go  to  jail.  Gentlemen,  there 
is  only  one  thing  that  explains  that  falsehood,  ut- 
tered by  the  prisoner  to  Mr.  Hanscom.  When  he 
said  he  saw  Pitezel  alive,  he  knew  that  Pitezel 
was  dead,  murdered  by  him.  He  feared  prosecu- 
tion for  that  murder.  There  is  no  other  explana- 
tion— no  other  reason.  The  cheating  of  the  in- 
surance company  had  been  confessed  ;  the  money 
secured  upon  the  policy  had  been  divided,  yet  he 
lied  about  Pitezel  and  about  the  children.  To 
Perry,  he  said,  "  Pitezel  is  in  South  America,  and 
Howard  is  with  him."  To  Mr.  Hanscom,  he  said, 
"  Pitezel  was  in  Detroit  three  weeks  ago,"  and 
then  subsequently  he  said,  "  I  saw  him  in  Cincin- 
nati." Then  he  tells  about  the  use  of  a  dead 
body.  That  it  was  not  Pitezel,  but  merely  some 
corpse  that  was  used  to  stand  for  his  body,  and 
goes  through  the  long  story  of  the  cheat  and  fraud 
upon  the  insurance  company,  with  which  you  are 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     413 

familiar  and  with  vvhicli  I  will  not  now  weary 
yoii. 

While  we  were  on  the  line  of  proving  these 
confessions  of  his,  we  proved  another,  which  was 
taken  after  he  came  to  Philadelphia.  The  first 
confession  was  simply  taken  by  question  and  an- 
swer. This  one  is  in  a  more  solemn  form.  We 
now  come  to  an  oath  bound  statement.  I  wonder 
if,  when  he  has  taken  the  solemn  obligation  of  an 
oath,  he  will  tell  the  truth.  I  wonder  if  now, 
when  he  is  sworn,  he  will  tell  us  really  what  has 
taken  place  ;  let  us  see.  Being  first  duly  sworn, 
he  says,  "  That  while  incarcerated  in  jail  in  St. 
Louis,  Missouri,  he  met  one  Hedgepeth." — Well, 
then,  it  was  true  that  Hedgepeth  was  with  this 
man  out  in  the  St.  Louis  jail,  and  was  his  com- 
panion in  the  conspiracy — "  who  said  that  for 
$400,  he  could  secure  his  release  from  imprison- 
ment."    (Quoting  further  therefrom.) 

Think  of  the  audacitj^  of  the  man,  afterwards, 
in  Mr.  Fouse's  office,  after  these  occurrences  that 
he  is  speaking  about,  but  before  this  confession 
was  made.  After  the  insurance  was  claimed  by 
Jeptha  D.  Howe.  When  Jeptha  D.  Howe  came 
into  the  office,  Mr.  Holmes  was  announced.  Mr. 
Holmes    was    in  waiting   outside.      ]\Ir.  Holmes 


414     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

walked  in.  Mr.  Howe  Wcas  sitting  there.  He  pre- 
tended he  did  not  know  Mr.  Howe — not  he.  An- 
other deception ;  another  fraud  !  He  does  not 
know  Mr.  Howe  !  JMr.  Fouse  has  to  turn  and  say, 
"Why,  INIr.  Howe,  let  me  present  Mr.  Holmes," 
and  Mr.  Holmes  bows  and  shakes  hands  with 
Mr.  Howe,  and  makes  a  new  acquaintance. 
Think  of  it,  and  remember  he  lias  known  him 
out  there  in  St.  Louis  for  some  time.  Howe  had 
been  sent  for  by  Hedgepeth,  and  as  Miss  Yoke 
said,  was  brought  to  the  jail  to  act  as  this  prison- 
er's counsel,  and  saw  him  in  the  jail  and  talked 
with  him  in  the  jail.  Oh,  how  deceit  and  decep- 
tion and  fraud  run  all  through  every  statement, 
from  beginning  to  end  I 

Then  he  goes  on  telling  about  the  relation  of 
Howe  to  the  conspiracy  ;  that  Howe  was  in  it 
How  he  got  word  while  in  Philadelphia,  that  they 
had  a  body  which  could  not  be  used,  and  that  he 
sent  to  New  York  and  got  another  body  which 
had  a  small  wart  on  the  neck ;  that  he  then  con- 
cluded not  to  take  any  more  chances  to  carry  out 
the  scheme,  and  that  he  brought  that  body  to 
Philadelphia  and  left  it  in  the  care  of  Pitezel. 
This  "stiff"  that  he  procured  in  New  York,  and 
brought  to  Philadelphia,  he  left  with  Pitezel,  who 


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ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      417 

was  to  carry  out  the  details  of  the  scheme  at  that 
place.  He  then  left  Philadelphia  at  10:30,  in 
company  with  his  wife,  and  she  was  taken  sick, 
as  lie  says.  But  no,  that  is  not  true  for  she  was 
sick  when  he  took  her  away.  The  truth  is  that 
he  hurried  her  away  while  she  was  sick.  Then 
he  stopped  off  at  Indianapolis,  and  stayed  there 
one  night,  reaching  St.  Louis  on  Tuesday  night, 
when  he  went  directly  to  the  office  of  McDon- 
ald &  Howe  ;  that  he  afterwards  went  to  Pite- 
zel's  house,  in  St.  Louis,  and  found  his  wife  and 
children  very  much  excited  about  the  news  which 
they  had  seen  in  the  paper ;  that  he  then  went 
about  9  o'clock  the  next  morning  to  Howe's  of- 
fice, and  asked  him  to  help  out  in  the  matter,  etc. 
He  then  goes  on  with  the  story  of  the  identifica- 
tion, and  tells  the  story  of  the  fraud.  He  then 
tells  about  the  meeting  in  St.  Louis,  when  they 
met  to  divide  the  plunder  at  INIcDonald  & 
Howe's  office.  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  there  present. 
The  spoils  were  divided ;  Mrs.  Pitezel  got  her  lit- 
tle share  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  money  from 
her  husband's  death.  Ten  thousand  dollars  were 
paid,  but  how  much  of  it  went  to  poor  Mrs.  Pite- 
zel? She  was  a  party  to  the  conspiracy,  as  the}^ 
say,  but  she  was  in  the  hands  of  a  sharper.     Five 


418     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

thousand  dollais  were  taken  on  one  pretext,  and 
with  reference  to  how  it  was  taken,  departing 
again,  slightlj-,  from  the  order  of  testimony,  I  ask 
that  you  will  remember  Mrs.  Pitezel's  testimony 
on  that  subject.  She  tells  you  that  Holmes  said, 
"  Now,  we'll  go  to  the  bank  and  pay  a  note  there 
that  your  husband  owes,"'  and  he  took  her  to  the 
bank.  They  went  inside,  and  there  Holmes  ob- 
tains from  this  woman,  out  of  her  satchel,  -15,000. 
He  then  walks  around  in  the  bank  to  another 
window,  and  pietends  to  be  paying  this  note.  I 
say  "  pretends,"  because  the  evidence  in  this  case 
shows  conclusively  the  falsity  and  deception  of 
the  man  beyond  question,  and  that  he  was  literall}- 
and  absolutely  deceiviug  her  in  what  he  said  and 
did.  Fortunately,  we  have  this  note.  Here  it  is, 
and  we  have  also  a  picture  of  it,  which  we  can 
handle  with  more  safety.  You  ^^ill  notice  that 
the  note  is  for  $16,000,  dated  May  16th,  1894,  and 
due  September  16th,  1894,  drawn  to  the  order  of 
Mr.  Samuels.  You  will  notice  on  the  original  note 
that  it  bears  no  endorsement.  Mr.  Samuels  never 
endorsed  that  note.  Y'ou  can  see,  therefore,  that 
it  was  not  negotiable.  It  could  not  pass  from  one 
man  to  anotlier.  That  simply  says  that  Mr. 
Lyman  owes  Mr.  Samuels  this  money.     If  it  had 


AROUMEKT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     410 

been  deposited  in  Lank  for  collection,  upon  the 
back  would  have  been  found  the  words  "de- 
posited for  collection,"  and  the  signature  of  Mr. 
Samuels,  and  his  signature  would  have  given  the 
bank  the  right  to  collect  it.  But  no,  this  note 
has  never  been  negotiated.  In  point  of  fact,  no 
note  was  at  that  bank.  There  was  nothing  to  be 
paid  there,  and  a  fraud  was  being  perpetrated 
upon  Mrs.  Pitezel. 

But  if  we  had  any  doubt  before,  I  am  sure  that 
doubt  is  absolutely  removed  when  we  hear  Mr. 
Samuels  on  the  stand.  You  remember  him,  the 
lawyer  from  Fort  Worth — his  clear-cut,  plain,  and 
frank  answers.  He  had  no  trouble  in  telling  you 
the  story  of  that  false  note.  "  Why,"  says  he, 
"the  body  of  that  note  is  in  my  handwriting,  I 
filled  that  in  for  this  man,"  or  "  for  that  individ- 
ual there,"  for  that  is  the  way  he  designated  him, 
if  you  may  remember^"  I  filled  it  in  for  that  in- 
dividual ;  he  came  to  negotiate  a  loan  from  my 
brother ;  the  note  was  drawn  for  $16,000,  and  he 
took  the  note  away  to  get  it  signed  by  his  partner, 
Benton  F.  Lyman,"  that  being  the  name  used  by 
Pitezel.  He  was  to  take  the  note  away  and  get 
Pitezel  to  sign  it,  and  then  bring  it  back.  What 
did  he  do?     He  came  back  to  Mr.  Samuels,  and 


420     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

lie  said,  "  Oh,  I  mislaid  that  note  or  lost  it ;  T 
doiTt  know  where  it  is,  but  I  iiave  had  this  new 
note  made  to  take  its  place,"  and  the  new  note  is 
handed  over  to  Mr.  Samuels,  and  upon  it  he  loans 
this  man  $2,500,  and  that  new  note — that  real 
note  is  in  the  hands  of  these  gentlemen  in  Fort 
Worth,  Texas,  and  this  dead  man  stands  debtor 
to  them  upon  it  to-day,  unpaid,  uncancelled,  while 
this  note  written  by  Mr.  Samuels  in  his  own  hand- 
writing is  fraudulently  concealed  by  Holmes,  and 
fraudulently  produced  to  Mrs.  Pitezel  as  if  it 
were  a  living  debt,  though  it  is  nothing  more  than 
a  piece  of  paper,  and  does  not  stand  for  a  single 
dollar.  So  the  story  goes.  The  money  is  divided 
and  Holmes  gets  this  $5,000.  He  has  matle  his 
profit  by  the  transaction.  He  is  the  man  who  re- 
ceived the  proceeds  from  the  insurance  on  the 
life  of  Pitezel,  and  he  starts  away. 

Then  c  ^mes  the  story  of  Mrs.  Pitezel.  Gentle- 
men, you  remember  that  story;  I  am  not  going  to 
weary  you  by  its  repetition.  In  all  the  fifteen  years 
of  my  service  in  this  office,  I  do  not  remember  a 
story  that  stirred  my  heart  or  moved  my  sensibili- 
ties like  the  broken  sentences  of  that  womnn, 
when,  Avith  evident  suffering  in  every  line  and 
jnark  upon  her  face,  in  the  supreme  effort  that  she 


AllGUMEXT  OF  THE  DISTRTCT  ATTORNEr.     421 

made  to  control  herself,  and  to  avoid  breaking- 
down,  she  told  that  pitiful,  yet  uiurvellous  story, 
of  how  this  man  led  her  from  place  to  place  in 
the  pursuit  of  her  husband.  I  do  not  see,  for  the 
life  of  me,  how  he  coukl  sit  there  in  the  dock  un- 
moved and  look  her  in  the  face,  conscious,  as  lie 
must  be,  of  the  awful  wrong  that  he  has  perpe- 
trated upon  her — how  he  could  sit  there  and  look 
her  in  the  face,  and  listen  to  the  harrowing  tale  of 
suffering  and  agon}-,  without  wincing,  without 
changing  a  muscle — he  is  a  man  of  steel  5  with  a 
heart  of  stone,  and  remains  utterly  unmoved. 

Gentlemen,  there  was  once  during  the  course  of 
this  trial  that  tears  seemed  to  come  to  his  eyes, 
and  he  appeared  to  be  moved  when  Miss  Yoke 
came  upon  the  wituess  stand  the  first  day.  But 
it  was  a  subject  of  such  universal  comment  that 
you  must  have  noticed  it  as  well  as  I,  and  others 
that  when  she  was  recalled  to  the  stand  the  sec- 
ond day,  no  tear  dimmed  his  eye.  The  questions 
of  his  lawyers  showed  that  the  tears  of  the  first 
day  were  summoned  to  influence  her-,  to  excite 
her  pity  for  him  so  that  in  telling  her  story  she 
might  be  induced  to  favor  him.  But  on  the  sec- 
ond day,  when  his  lawyer's  shafts  were  dipped  in 
malice,    and  question  upon  question   was  thrust 


422      ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

at  her  regardless  of  liow  tlie}^  placed  lier  before 
the  world  or  the  coiiimuiiity,  he  sat  as  stony,  as 
immovable,  as  when  jMrs.  Pitezel  told  her  pitiful 
story  from  the  witness  box. 

That  was  a  strange  stor^-,  gentlemen  ;  if  you 
and  I  had  read  it  in  fiction,  we  would  say  perhaps 
that  the  novelist  had  overdrawn  or  overstated 
the  facts ;  that  he  had  overdrawn  the  story,  and 
made  it  stronger  than  our  imagination  or  fancy 
could  tolerate. 

Now,  let  us  return  to  that  story.  After  Alice 
was  taken  to  Phikidelphia  to  identify  the  father, 
she  was  taken  back  to  Indianapolis.  He  went  to 
St.  Louis,  and  saw  tlie  mother,  and  took  from  her 
the  other  two  children.  There  are  now  three 
children  started  upon  the  journey  in  one  group. 
In  a  few  days,  he  starts  the  mother  upon  lier 
travels,  and  with  her  are  Dessa  and  the  baby, 
forming  a  second  group.  In  a  little  while  after 
that,  Miss  Yoke  proceeds  with  him.  They  are 
travelling  in  three  detachments,  each  utterly  ig- 
norant of  the  location  and  proximity  of  the  other. 
Mrs.  Pitezel  does  not  know  where  the  three  chil- 
dren are  located  :  Miss  Yoke  does  not  know  that 
Mrs.  Pitezel  is  travelling  with  Dessa  and  the 
babv,  and  that  the  three  children  are  also  under 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      4J:i 

his  control.  Another  exhibition  of  the  marvellous 
ingenuity,  craft,  cunning,  and  power  of  this  man. 
Travelling  in  three  separate  detachments,  and  in 
the  city  of  Detroit,  stopping  within  a  few  blocks 
of  each  other.  The  hotels  have  been  named  at 
which  they  stopped,  within  a  few  blocks,— the 
mother  yearning  to  see  her  children,  and  yet  ig- 
norant of  their  whereabouts,  and  kept  from  com- 
municating with  them;  the  children  pleading  to 
communicate  with  their  mother,  and  yet,  kept 
from  communication  with  her ;  within  four  blocks 
of  each  other  in  the  same  city,  and  kept  apart. 
Poor  Mrs.  Pitezel !  The  will  o'the  wisp,  the 
hope  of  meeting  Benny,  held  out,  and  held  out  to 
her  day  after  day!  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "Benny  will 
be  in  Detroit."  She  is  at  Galva,  Illinois,  with  her 
parents.  He  tells  her  to  come  in  the  middle  of 
the  week,  but  no,  her  eagerness  to  meet  her  hus- 
band prompts  her  to  start  early,  and  she  leaves 
for  Detroit  from  her  home  on  the  13th  of  October. 
"  Where  is  Ben  ?  "  "  Well,  well  find  Ben  in  To- 
ronto." They  go  to  Toronto.  You  remember 
the  days  they  spent  there.  "Oh,  he'll  come  over 
here  and  see  you  when  I  get  a  house;  he  wanted 
to  come  and  see  you  without  the  children  being 
present ;  it'll  never  do  to  permit  the  children  to 


424     JEGUiVEXT  OP   THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

know  that  lie  is  living;  he  can't  show  himself  in 
the  presence  of  the  children."  That  is  Holmes' 
story.  Gentlemen,  right  in  that  connection,  let 
me  call  your  attention  to  something  he  said  to 
Mr.  ITanscom.  In  that  statement  to  Mr.  Hanscom, 
\\v  tells  this  remarkable  story.  Said  he,  "Pitezel 
\\  ;is  in  Detroit,  and  of  course  I  was  keeping  hira 
<!!i!  (jf  the  sight  of  the  children,  but  one  day  he 
gii;  to  drinking  while  in  Detroit,  and  before  I 
knew  it,  he  walked  right  in  to  the  children,  where 
tin'  three  children  were,  and  they  all  saw  him, 
;iii.l  they  all  knew  him,  and  he  was  there  with  the 
chiUlren,  and  I  permitted  him  then  to  take  the 
cliiMren  away  with  him."  That  is  what  he  told 
[{.ijiscom.  Let  us  now  see  how  that  fits  with 
what  he  told  Mrs.  Pitezel.  "Oh,"  says  he  to 
Mrs.  Pitezel,  "  wait  until  I  get  a  house;  it  will 
never  do  to  have  Mr.  Pitezel  come  and  visit  you, 
and  have  your  children  see  him."  Why  he  told 
Hanscom  that  he  had  called  on  those  three  chil- 
dren in.  that  hotel  in  Detroit,  and  that  the  chil- 
dren knew  all  about  his  being  alive. — "  Oh,  wait 
until  I  can  get  a  house  for  you,  and  then  with  the 
children  away,  he  can  come  into  the  house  and 
see  you,  and  the  children  will  not  know  it."  A 
man  has  to  be  a  good  liar,  with  a  strong  memory. 


ARGUMENT  OF   THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     425 

if  he  wants  to  make  all  the  stories  that  he  tells  fit 
each  other.  His  story  told  to  Haiiscom  is  vitally 
different  from  his  story  told  to  Mrs.  Pitezel. 
Poor  Mrs.  Pitezel,  however,  was  lured  on  and  on 
and  on,  and  finally  is  taken  to  Prescott,  in  Canada, 
thence  to  Ogdensburg,  New  York  ;  thence  to  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  and  at  last  to  Boston  to  be  ar- 
rested. He  brings  her  to  Boston  to  be  arrested. 
What  talent  he  displays!  Here  are  the  three  de- 
tachments travelling  separately,  each  kept  in  ig- 
norance of  the  existence  of  the  others,  with  this 
prisoner  the  postmaster  for  Mrs.  Pitezel  and  the 
children ;  with  orders  to  collect  her  letters  at 
every  post-office  upon  their  route;  this  postmaster 
for  these  innocent  little  children,  who  wanted  to 
write  letters  to  Dear  Mamma — every  letter  inter- 
cepted, and  those  letters  found  in  his  tin  box, 
identified  in  broken  sentences  by  Mrs.  Pitezel  on 
the  witness  stand  when  she  exclaimed  in  anguish ; 
"  Oh,  that's  Alice's  "  ;  "  That's  Nellie's  " ;  "  That 
was  done  by  Alice  "  ;  "  That's  my  letter."  Was 
ever  power  over  a  family  more  complete  than  this 
man's  power  over  these  people  ?  Every  letter  in- 
tercepted— no  communication  between  them.  Not 
one  syllable  from  child  to  mother ;  not  one  sylla- 
ble from  mother  to  child.     Did  I  speak  wrong- 


426     ARGUMENT  OF   THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

fully,  geiitleiiien,  or  was  I  cruel  in  making  the 
statement  when  I  said  that  this  man  was  a  man  of 
steel,  with  a  heart  of  stone  ?  Anyone  that  would 
take  tliese  children's  letters  addressed  to  their 
mother,  and  hide  and  conceal  them,  may  justly  be 
charged  with  being  heartless,  and  with  being 
cruel  beyond  comparison.  He  is  the  jailor  of  the 
family.  He  suppresses  and  destroys  their  mail. 
No,  lie  does  not  destroy  it ;  for  in  almost  eveiy 
case  of  villainy,  and  criminality,  somehow  or 
other,  whether  it  be  Providential  for  the  detection 
and  punishment  of  the  rascal  or  not,  I  cannot 
tell,  but  somehow  the  villain  overreaches  himself 
in  his  efforts  at  concealment,  and  here  and  there  a 
telltale  fact  comes  to  light  and  points  the  uner^ 
ring  finger  of  accusation  at  him,  saying  "  That's 
the  guilty  man."  Yes,  this  is  a  marvellous  story, 
and  tlie  conclusion  of  it  is  not  less  marvellous 
than  the  rest. 

Mrs.  Pitezel  and  Dessa  have  appeared  before 
you.  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  asked,  "  When  did  you 
see  those  children  again?"  and  her  heartrending 
answer  some  of  us  may  remember  for  many,  many 
years  to  come ;  it  was  pitiful,  it  was  infinitely  sad 
coming  from  a  heart  broken  with  grief — "  Oh,  I 
didn't   see    them    acfain    until    I    saw   Alice   and 


ARGU3IENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     427 

Nellie  in  the  morgue  in  Toronto,  and  the  last  be- 
longings of  little  Howard  in  the  Coroner's  office 
in  Indianapolis."  What  a  tale  of  horror  and  of 
woe  is  infolded  in  tliat  harrowing  sentence.  How 
this  woman's  pitiable  plight  should  have  moved 
ever}'  man  of  us  to  treat  her  with  the^  utmost 
consideration  and  kindness,  yet  I  say  to  you, 
gentlemen,  that  my  blood  boiled  with  indignation 
yesterday  when  counsel,  with  mistaken  zeal,  at- 
tempted to  harrow  up  that  poor  woman's  soul, 
and  attempted  to  press  her  with  questions  under 
disguise,  for  the  purpose  of  making  her  appear  a 
party  to  the  conspiracy  in  this  case.  Wliy,  of 
course,  she  knew  what  her  husband  was  going  to 
do  ;  she  was  particeps  crhimiis  to  the  extent  that 
she  concealed  that  fact  to  protect  her  husband, 
and  that  is  all  that  they  can  charge  against  her. 
The  counsel  for  the  prisoner  was  compelled  to 
probe  with  questions,  and  he  said,  "Weren't  3-ou 
arrested  in  Boston  ?  "'  "  Weren't  you  brought  back 
under  arrest?  "  "  Weren't  you  put  in  the  county 
prison  ?  "  "  Weren't  you  indicted  for  conspiracy  ?  " 
In  the  name  of  justice,  has  there  not  been  enough 
done  ?  Yes,  they  think  this  is  necessary.  One 
nnn-e  burden  must  be  added.  This  man  wants  to 
make  her  appear  to  have  been  as  black  as  he  in  the 


428     ARGVMENT  op  the  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

conspiracy.  That  was  the  object — to  aigiie  against 
her  credibilit}^ — to  make  her  appear  to  be  a  co-con- 
spirator with  him,  and  therefore  not  worth}^  of  be- 
lief. But  every  step  of  that  journey  was  coriub- 
orated  practically  by  Dessa  ;  everything  that  oc- 
curred in  it  was  corroborated  by  her.  Think  of  tiie 
cipher  letters  that  he  prepared !  What  a  disingen- 
uous, uncandid,  and  villainous  man  it  is  who  would 
prepare  a  cipher  letter  to  bring  into  that  mother's 
presence,  and  read  to  her  as  if  coming  from  her 
little  children.  Those  children  whose  voices  she 
could  never  hear  again  were  to  be  misrepresented 
by  that  cipher  letter  as  if  speaking  to  her.  Think 
also  of  the  other  cipher  letter,  purporting  to  have 
come  from  her  husband.  \\''ell  might  they  be  in 
cipher.  Well  might  he  attempt  to  disguise  them 
in  some  form,  pretending  that  one  came  from  the 
children,  (then  dead,)  and  that  one  came  from 
Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  (who  was  mouldering  in  his 
grave,)  telling  her  of  his  whereabouts  in  Montreal. 
Was  there  ever  a  case  of  moi-e  wicked  and  inex- 
cusable deceit  than  this  ?  Why  did  he  adopt  all 
this  duplicity?  Why  was  he  guilty  of  all  this 
subterfuge  ?  Why  was  it  that  he  deceived  every- 
body with  these  stories  ?  Gentlemen,  there  is  but 
one  answer,  and  it  is  that  in  the  room  on  the 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     429 

second  story  of  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  he 
took  the  life  of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  Now  why 
do  I  say  that?  I  say  it  because  this  evidence 
shows  it,  and  I  am  going  to  demonstrate  to  you 
that  fact  out  of  this  testimony — demonstrate  to 
you  the  fact  that  this  man  did  destroy  Benjamin 
Pitezel  in  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street.  He  was 
telling  these  malicious  lies  to  cover  up  a  horrible 
murder.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  was  Pitezel,  whose  body  was  found  as  described. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  he  came  to  his  death  from 
chloroform  poisoning.  That  is  an  unquestioned, 
uncontradicted  fact  in  this  case.  There  is  no 
duubt  that  he  was  seen  alive  up  until  about  ten 
o'clock  on  Saturday  night,  out  buying  his  whiskey 
to  take  his  dilnk — buying  his  cigars  at  the  cigar 
store  to  smoke.  He  had  written  to  his  wife  a 
few  days  before  that  he  expected  to  go  home  and 
see  her,  and  he  had  told  her  that  if  he  could 
succeed,  he  was  going  to  bring  her  and  the  chil- 
dren on  to  Philadelphia.  Nothing  in  the  whole 
case,  from  beginning  to  end,  to  indicate  a  suicidal 
intent  or  purpose  on  his  part — not  a  particle  of 
evidence  produced  for  the  purpose  of  showing  that 
he  ever  attempted  to  commit  suicide.  Not  one 
word   from    the    wife ;    not   one    word    from    his 


430     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

letters;  not  one  word  IVdm  liis  neighbors,  but 
what  indicated  u  hopeful  outlook  on  the  future — 
a  building  up  of  plans  a«  to  what  he  was  going  to 
do  in  that  future.  He  saj'S,  "  I  am  going  to  visit 
St.  Louis  ;  but  if  I  can  succeed  in  establishing  a 
business  here,  I'm  going  to  bring  you  and  the 
children  on  to  Philadelphia."  That  was  the  out- 
look of  the  man.  He  was  buying  his  whiskey; — 
he  was  a  free  drinker;  he  was  buying  his  cigars; 
he  was  a  smoker,  laying  in  a  stock  for  that 
Sunday — not  laying  in  death  for  himself — he 
was  going  to  live ;  he  was  going  to  drink  his 
whiskey,  and  since  he  could  not,  under  the  Excise 
laws,  get  it  on  Sunday,  he  was  laying  in  a  stock 
on  the  Saturday  night  before,  so  that  everything 
indicated  a  purpose  of  life,  and  not  a  purpose  of 
suicide. 

Now,  then,  we  see  him  alive  and  well,  and  ap- 
parently all  right  at  that  time.  There  is  no 
doubt,  gentlemen,  in  this  case,  for  it  is  proved 
out  of  this  man's  own  lips,  (pointing  to  the  pris 
oner)  and  out  of  the  lips  of  ]Miss  Yoke,  that  on 
that  fateful  Sunday,  he,  the  prisoner,  spent  the 
greater  part  of  the  day  at  No.  1316  Callowhill 
Street ;  in  other  words  the  day  that  Pitezel  was 
done  to  deatli,  Holmes  was  ni  that  house  ;  he  is 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     431 

fixed  in  that  house  by  liis  own  statements  made 
more  than  once,  and  by  the  testimony  of  his  al- 
leged wife,  Miss  Yoke.  Remember  that  what  she 
says  is  very  significant. 

"  Somebody  came  on  Saturday  night  to  his 
house,  and  sent  a  message  upstairs;  the  man, 
wlioever  it  was,  would  not  come  upstairs,  so 
Holmes  went  down  to  see  him,  and  came  back 
and  told  her  " — and  there  again  comes  in  the  old 
deception — "it  is  a  man  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company,  with  whom  I  am  about  to 
close  a  deal,  and  I  am  going  out  to  Nicetown  to- 
morrow to  see  him."  This  was  not  true  for 
afterwards  in  Philadelphia,  he  told  Miss  Yoke 
that  the  man  who  called  on  that  Saturday  night 
was  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel 
called  on  that  Saturday  night.  The  man  with 
whom  he  had  an  engagement  the  next  day  was 
Benjamin  F.  Pitezel  ;  and  I  asked  Miss  Yoke  tlie 
question  whether  Holmes  was  at  home  the  next 
day.  The  answer  was  :  "  No,  he  went  out  about 
ten  or  half  past  ten  in  tlie  morning,  and  did  not 
come  back  until  the  afternoon,  about  half  past 
three  or  four  o'clock."  All  of  those  intervening 
hours  he  spent  in  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street,  on 
the  day  of  the  murder.     Here,  then,  we  find  Pite- 


43-3     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

zel  was  alive  and  well  on  Saturday  night,  at  Ox 
about  ten  o'clock.  His  body  is  found  on  Tuesday 
morning  in  a  state  indicating  that  he  had  been 
dead  fur  probably  two  days.  On  Monday,  no 
living  person  was  about  tliere;  Smith  came  in  on 
Tuesday  and  found  the  deceased.  On  Sunday, 
Pitezel  was  killed;  on  Sunday  Holmes  was  in  the 
house  with  him ;  on  Sunday  he  spent  several 
hours  in  that  house.  He  is  the  man  who  was 
present  when  Pitezel  died.  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel 
and  Herman  H.  Mudgett,  in  No.  1316  Callowhill 
Street  met  on  that  Sunday.  Now  we  can  under- 
stand why  he  tells  these  stories  about  Pitezel 
being  alive.  If  this  was  a  substituted  cor])se, 
then  he  cannot  be  convicted  of  murder.  He  has 
confessed  the  insurance  fraud.  He  has  got  the 
money  for  the  insurance.  No  motive  or  induce- 
ment to  lie  on  that  account;  but  because  back  of 
that  is  the  crime  of  murder,  therefore  he  denies 
these  stories,  explaining  that  Pitezel  lives,  and 
tliat  a  substituted  body  has  been  put  in  that 
place,  and  he  tells  you  himself  that  he  was  there. 
He  tells  you,  by  his  questions  to  the  witnesses  on 
the  stand,  that  he  was  there.  You  remember 
M'hat  he  said  to  Miss  Yoke.  He  did  it  with  one 
purpose,  but  I  argue   to  you  a  totally  different 


AE0U3IENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      43;i 

effect.  He  said,  "Miss  Yoke,  did  you  notice  my 
appearance  when  I  came  in  on  thai  Sunday  after- 
noon, between  hali  past  three  and  four?"  She 
said  "Yes."  He  aslced,  "V/asn't  I  excited?" 
Now  this  man,  with  liis  story  of  Pitezel's  suicide 
discovered  by  liim,  wants  to  make  us  believe  that 
he  came  in  excited,  because  of  that  discovery,  but 
I  will  tell  you  the  secret  of  his  excitement.  Miss 
Yoke  said  to  him,  ''  No,  you  looked  worried,  and 
you  were  hot,"  Why,  of  course,  lie  was  worried, 
and  had  reason  to  be  worried,  because  those  hours 
were  spent  in  doing  a  fellow-being  to  death — 
worried — yes.  It  was  worriment  that  made  him 
start  for  the  West  that  night  with  his  wife  ;  it  was 
fear  that  made  him  get  away  from  this  city  before 
the  body  was  discovered.  He  had  cause  to  be 
worried  that  night ;  there  is  no  doubt  of  that. 
He  was  excited.  I  suppose  such  a  thing  would 
make  him  excited.  I  do  not  know  of  much  else 
that  would.  You  have  seen  him  ;  you  have  a 
right  to  observe  him,  not  only  as  he  sits  here 
now,  but  as  he  stood  there  and  conducted  his  own 
case.  Y^ou  observed  him  as  he  addressed  physi- 
cians, as  a  physician,  a  skillful  man,  addressing 
them  upon  scientific  subjects.  You  observed  him, 
the  man  whose  very  life  is  at  stake,  in  this  awful 

25 


4;m    AnavMFXT  or  the  Disriurr  attorney. 

ordeal,  displaying  more  calmness  than  even  I 
could,  conducting  the  examination  of  the  wit- 
nesses, one  after  the  other,  and  manifesting  an 
absolute  want  of  all  fear,  nervousness,  or  fright. 
Yet  I  think  there  is  one  thing  that  Avould  make 
him  nervous;  I  think  there  is  one  thing  that 
would  make  him  \vorried,  and  that  was  what  took 
place  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street  on  that  day, 
not  the  discovery  of  a  suicide,  but  the  recollection 
of  a  murder. 

Now  let  us  consider  all  his  stories  of  what  took 
place  there.  We  have  put  in  evidence  his  confes- 
sion or  statement  to  Captain  Linden.  Months 
have  elapsed  since  the  murder  before  this  state- 
ment is  made.  These  stories  that  he  has  told  about 
the  substitute  body — about  Pitezel  living  and  the 
children  have  been  discounted  and  disbelieved ; 
everybody  who  has  come  in  contact  with  him  has 
told  him  that  they  did  not  believe  them.  He  tliinks 
it  is  necessary  to  frame  a  new  story,  as  he  sits  down 
in  Moyamensing  Prison,  with  nothing  else  to  do 
but  to  coin  narratives  to  exculpate  himself.  He 
fashions  a  new  statement  which  is  to  be  palmed  off 
upon  the  authorities,  and  upon  the  public.  Now, 
what  is  that  statement?  That  statement  admits 
that  it  is  Pitezel  who  is  dead  ;  no  longer  are  we 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DTSTRICT  ATTORXEY.     435 

sent  roaming-  into  Soutli  America,  or  off  to  De- 
troit or  up  to  Montreal,  in  Canada,  to  find  Pitezel. 
He  now  admits  that  Pitezel  is  dead,  and  that  this 
was  Pitezel.  It  has  become  evident  that  the 
story  of  a  substituted  corpse  has  been  so  much 
discredited  and  is  so  generally  disbelieved  that  it 
is  now  necessary  to  bow  to  the  inevitable  and  ad- 
mit the  body  to  be  that  of  Pitezel.  "  Oh,"  he 
says,  "  but  I  did  not  kill  him  ;  he  died  from  sui- 
cide." This  man  who  was  out  the  night  before, 
apparently  happy,  and  making  provision  for  his 
comfort  for  the  next  day,  not  intending  to  die, 
but  intending  to  live,  and  intending  to  have  some 
of  those  things  that  he  considered  necessar}'  fur 
his  comfort  tlie  next  day — Holmes  claims  has 
committed  suicide — that  this  man  who  was  writ- 
ing to  his  wife,  "  I  am  coming  out  to  see  you,  and 
if  I  can  make  arrangements  to  conduct  business  in 
J'hiladelphia,  I  am  going  to  bring  you  and  the 
children  and  the  baby  " — and  that  baby  seemed 
to  be  very  dear  to  him — "  I  am  going  to  bring 
you  to  Philadelphia,  and  we'll  live  here  " — this 
man,  Holmes  says,  committed  suicide.  All  the 
surroundings  in  this  case  deny  that  he  thought  of 
suicide  ;  the  evidence  springing  from  the  finding 
of  the  body  denies  that  he  committed  suicide,  and 


AM]     ARGUMENT  OF   THE   DISTHTCT  ATTORNEY. 

the  story  that  Holmes  tells  of  how  the  suicide 
which  lie  alleges  was  committed  is  absolutely  im- 
pof^sil)lt\  and  is  rebutted  by  the  testimony  in  this 
case,  and  I  will  show  you,  I  believe,  as  clearly  as 
mathematical  demonstration,  that  Pitezel  was  not 
self-destroyed,  but  that  he  was  destroyed  by  a  sec- 
ond person  in  that  house,  and  in  that  room.  Why 
do  I  say  that?  I  say  it  because  the  evidence  war- 
rants it.  Holmes  tells  you  that  when  he  went  in 
there,  and  I  want  to  direct  your  attention  specially 
to  this  remarkable  story — "  When  I  went  into  that 
room,  I  found  Pitezel  lying  on  the  floor  dead." 
Then  lie  constructs  a  remarkable  story  telling  of 
a  wonderful  arrangement,  all  coined  in  the  mint 
of  his  own  fancy,  intended  to  explain  how  Pitezel 
had  committed  suicide,  Avhich  you  can  readily  see 
is  wortliy  of  his  keen  mind  and  thought,  and 
which  never  came  from  the  mind,  or  from  the 
thought  of  Pitezel, — an  ignorant  man,  as  he  calls 
him  in  one  of  his  confessions.  Why,  up  there  on 
the  till  id  floor,  he  says,  Pitezel  had  arranged  a 
mpchnnical  contrivance  that  would  do  justice  to 
the  ingenuity  of  a  Holmes — to  the  skill  of  a  IMud 
gptt.  On  a  chair,  according  to  his  story,  is  a  gal- 
lon bottle — a  bottle  that  would  hold  a  gallon  of 
chloroform  —  an    enormous    quantity  —  put    on    a 


ARGUMENT  OF   THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     4:J7 

chair;  underneath  the  bottle  on  the  seat  of  the 
chair  on  each  side  is  a  block  holding  up  the  bot- 
tom of  the  bottle  so  that  as  the  bottle  reclines  on 
the  chair,  the  bottom  is  higher  than  the  neck. 
There  is  carefully  inserted  through  the  cork,  which 
cork  is  fastened  tightly  into  the  mouth  of  the  bot- 
tle,— a  quill,  and  then  over  the  quill  is  fixed  a 
rubber  tube,  which  leads  down  fioni  the  chair, 
down  to  a  towel  that  is  spread  over  the  face  of  the 
deceased,  the  rubber  tube,  using  his  own  language, 
being  "  constricted  at  the  center."  The  tube  was 
tied  at  the  center  so  as  to  i)revent  the  fluid  from 
flowing  rapidly  down,  and  he  says  that,  in  that 
condition,  this  man  came  to  liis  death.  That  he 
found  him  there — that  he  found  him  there  in  that 
third-story  room,  and  that  he  took  those  things 
away  from  this  man,  and  took  this  man  himself — 
this  slight,  slim  built,  thin  man,  Holmes,  took 
Pitezel,  weigliing  175  or  180  pounds,  who  must 
have  been  then  a  stiff,  rigid  corpse,  and  dragged 
him—he  did  not  attempt  to  carry  him  across  — but 
dragged  him  down  the  stairs  from  the  third-storv 
room  to  the  second-story  room,  and  there  placed 
him  in  the  position  of  repose  in  which  he  was 
found  lying,  and  he  tells  you  that  that  condition 
of  repose  in  which  he  was  found  on  the  second- 


AoS     ARGUMENT  OF   THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

story  floor  was  precisely  the  same  as  that  in  which 
he  was  found  on  the  third-story  floor,  describing 
him  in  precisely  the  same  position  down  there. 

Was  he  describing  a  real  scene  or  a  fancied  one? 
Where  is  that  gallon  bottle  ?  Where  is  that  tube? 
Where  is  any  part  of  this  strange  suicidal  device! 
Nothing  of  it  found,  not  a  trace  of  it  anywhere 
Why  has  it  so  mysteriously  disappeared  ?  Gentle 
men,  it  never  had  an  existence  except  in  the  fab 
ricated  story  of  this  prisoner.  The  first  question 
I  ask  is  why,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  did  he 
not  leave  him  on  the  third-story  floor?  What  ne- 
cessity was  there  for  bringing  him  down  to  the 
second-stor}^  ?  Could  he  not  just  as  well  have 
burned  and  disfigured  him  up  there  on  the  third- 
story  floor,  as  he  could  on  the  second-story,  and 
would  not  his  deception  have  been  as  successfully 
practiced  on  the  third  floor  as  on  the  second  floor? 

Gentlemen,  that  body  was  never  on  the  tliird- 
story  floor.  The  relaxation  of  the  invokintary 
muscles,  and  the  involuntary  discharges  from  the 
person  took  place  at  or  immediately  before  disso- 
lution. These  discharges  were  found  on  the  sec- 
ond-story floor,  not  on  the  third-story  floor,  clearly 
indicating  that  death  took  place  where  the  body 
was  found.     This  is  a  very  significant  fact. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     439 

The  next  tliiiig  to  which  I  ask  your  attention  is 
this.  When  that  body  was  found  down  on  the 
second-story  floor,  it  was  in  perfect  order.  The 
perfect  order  in  which  everything  was  showed 
that  it  had  never  been  dragged  down  those  stairs 
by  a  second  person.  The  clothing  was  not  dis- 
arranged. Dr.  Scott  is  careful  to  tell  you  that 
the  shirt  and  underwear  were  carefully  tucked 
down  into  the  trousers,  with  everything  in  their 
perfect  place,  just  as  a  man  would  fix  himself,  and 
just  as  no  one  else  could  do  it  for  him,  and  any- 
body who  knows  anything  about  the  preparation 
of  a  corpse  for  burial,  will  readily  understand 
why.  A  corpse  is  not  dressed  in  clothing,  as  a 
rule,  but  covered,  because  of  the  difficulty  of 
dressing  the  corpse,  and  a  second  person  not  being 
able  to  adjust  the  clothing  in  nice  order  all  over 
the  person.  This  man's  body  showed  tliat  he  had 
never  been  dragged  down  those  stairs.  It  was 
not  disordered. 

Now  gentlemen,  unless  he  had  found  him  be- 
fore rigor  mortis  set  in — that  is,  the  stiffening  of 
the  corpse — he  could  not  have  fixed  him  in  that 
position  on  the  second  floor ;  he  could  not  have 
done  it;  it  would  have  been  perfectly  impossible 
for  him.     Yet  the  very  period  that  he  fixes — the 


no     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DTSTEICT  ATTORNEY. 

very  time  that  he  fixes  as  the  time  of  his  visit  to 
that  place  is  after  that  corpse  is  stiff  and  cold  ; 
after  it  is  dead  and  rigor  mortis  has  set  in. 

I  now  ask  your  attention  to  another  thing.  He 
said  that  the  body  was  lying  upon  its  back  and 
flat.  I  wish  one  of  you  would  tr}',  when  you  go 
to  your  room — I  do  not  want  to  do  it  here,  for  it 
might  appear  like  an  effort  after  theatrical  effect 
— to  lie  down  upon  the  flat  of  3^our  back,  with 
your  head  on  the  floor,  and  the  head  turned  to  one 
side,  and  see  whether  any  fluid,  in  order  to  go 
through  that  tube  called  the  oesophagus,  into  the 
stomach,  would  ni^t  have  to  run  up  hill.  Put  your- 
self in  that  position,  and  see  if  it  is  not  so.  Ac- 
cording to  the  prisoner's  story  the  chloroform 
passed  from  the  bottle  down  the  tube  to  the 
towel,  thence  into  the  mouth  and  then  into  the 
stomach.  Gentlemen  that  chloroform  did  not 
run  up  hill. 

Now,  the  prisoner  must  account  for  this  fluid  or 
chloroform  in  the  stomach.  Do  you  remember 
what  Detective  Geyer  said  he  told  him  ?  He  said 
he  told  him  that,  as  part  of  what  lie  had  informed 
Fitezel  to  do — he  had  told  Pitezel  to  take  this 
stiff,  as  they  called  it — this  dead  body  that  was  to 
be    substituted    and    to   put    chloroform    in    its 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     441 

st.)mach.  He  said  to  put  it  in  the  mouth  of  the 
dead  corpse,  and  then  work  the  body  like  a  bel- 
hnvs,  so  as  to  force  it  down  into  the  stomach. 
That  is  what  he  said.  And  I  argue  to  you  that 
that  is  the  way  he  passed  the  chloroform  into 
Pitezel's  stomach.  This  man  who  told  Pitezel 
how  to  do  it  knew  how  to  do  it  himself,  and  the 
chloroform  which  was  found  in  that  body,  that 
had  never  irritated  the  walls  and  surface  or  lining 
of  the  stomach,  was  put  in  there  after  death,  and 
the  testimony  of  two  physicians  positively  shows 
that  it  never  flowed  into  that  stomach,  as  Holmes 
says. 

Now  let  me  call  your  attention  to  another 
point.  In  his  questions  to  Dr.  Leffman,  and  to 
Dr.  Scott,  he  tried  to  create  the  impression  that  if 
this  bottle  was  eighth-tenths  full,  would  not 
chloroform  flow  down  that  pipe,  and  on  to  the 
towel,  into  the  man's  throat,  filling  up  the  throat 
and  forcing  itself  through  into  the  stomach.  Now 
there  are  two  difficulties  about  that  theory  that  he 
did  not  anticipate,  and  I  could  see  when  Dr. 
Leffman  made  his  answer  to  him,  what  the  effect 
was.  It  was  like  a  stunning  blow  in  the  face. 
When  Dr.  Leffman  answered  him,  "Why,"  said 
he,  "  it  couldn't  flow  hardly  faster  than  it  would 


442     ARGUMENT  OF   THE   DTSTRWT  ATTORNEY. 

evaporate  in  the  condition  in  which  you  put  it." 
Now  think  of  that.  Here  is  a  bottle  corked 
tightly,  a  quill  drawn  through  the  cork,  a  pipe 
leading  from  that  quill  down  to  the  towel ;  not  one 
particle  of  air  can  get  into  that  bottle,  and  unless 
the  air  can  get  into  the  bottle,  the  fluid  will  not 
flow  out.  The  fluid  will  not  flow  faster  than  the 
air  can  pass  it  in  the  passage  wnj  of  that  pipe, 
and  that  pipe  was  tied  in  the  center  so  as  to  con- 
strict it.  You  and  I  have  seen  it  illustrated. 
When  a  barrel  of  liquid  of  any  kind  is  opened, 
they  knock  the  bung  out  in  the  top  or  bore  a 
hole  through  to  let  the  air  in,  or  the  contents  will 
not  flow  out  freely  at  the  spigot.  They  bore  a 
hole  in  a  barrel,  when  they  put  the  spigot  in,  so 
that  the  air  may  get  in  and  cause  the  liquid  to 
flow  out.  Dr.  Leffman  says,  in  speaking  of  this, 
"  It  would  not  flow  out  faster  than  it  would 
evaporate."  Gentlemen,  if  it  would  not  flow  out 
faster  than  it  would  evaporate,  how  in  the  name 
of  common  sense  could  it  collect  in  the  throat  in 
such  quantity  that  it  would  force  itself  down  into 
the  stomach  after  death?  Again,  another  diffi- 
culty. The  Doctor  has  said  to  you,  and  that  is 
uncontradicted  here,  that  a  dead  oesophagus  will 
not  pass  any  liquid.     With  the  beginning  of  every 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE   DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      443 

act  of  swallowing,  there  is  a  voluntary  act  on  your 
part.  The  will  transfers  food  beyond  the  point 
of  the  tongue,  and  you  start  it  upon  its  way  down 
to  the  stomach.  After  that,  it  is  involuntary,  by 
the  closing  of  the  oesophagus  behind,  and  the 
opening  of  it  in  front,  pressing  the  food  down  to 
its  place.  A  dead  cesophagus  or  a  dead  tube 
leading  to  the  stomach  will  not  pass  any  liquid  in 
that  way.  There  must  be  artificial  aid,  or  there 
must  be  a  second  person.  A  second  person  stand- 
ing in  his  position  could  do  it.  He  would  take 
the  body  and  make  a  bellows  of  it,  and  create  a 
vacuum,  and  draw  the  liquid  down.  That  is  what 
he  would  do,  and  that  is  what  he  did  do.  But  the 
dead  oesophagus  is  another  difficulty  in  the  way 
of  his  story. 

Now  gentlemen,  you  are  to  try  this  case  accord- 
ing to  the  evidence — not  according  to  anything 
else,  but  according  to  the  evidence.  It  is  the  duty 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  to  make 
out  this  case  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  It  is  to 
be  decided  according  to  the  evidence  that  you 
have  heard,  the  testimony  that  is  before  you,  and 
the  only  testimony  before  you  is  the  testimony  of 
these  witnesses  to  whom  I  have  referred.     It  is 


444     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

from  their  testimony,  standing  uncontradicted, 
that  this  man's  fate  must  be  determined. 

Let  me  now  read  you  a  few  important  answers 
from  Dr.  Leffman's  testimony.  This  is  very  im- 
portant, and  it  is  testimony  to  which  I  ask  your 
careful  attention.     He  testified  as  follows: 

"  Q.     You  are  a  graduate  of  what  school  ? 

A      Jefferson  Medical  College. 

Q.     Are  you  an  analytical  chemist? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     You  have  taught  chemistry,  I  believe? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.     You  are  a  professor  of  that  branch  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  you  connected  with  any  institutions  ?  '" 
(He  then  goes  on  and  tells  what  institutions  he  is 
connected  with.) 

"  Q.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  effects  and  use 
of  chloroform  ? 

A.  I  have  seen  chloroform  administered  a  great 
many  times  in  the  course  of  my  attendance  in 
college,  and  I  have  administered  it  a  great  many 
times  to  small  animals.  I  have  never  seen  a  death 
from  chloroform  in  my  experience. 

Q.  What  are  the  immediate  effects  of  the  iii- 
lialation  of  chloroform  ? 


ARGUMENT  OF   THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      445 

A.  The  first  effect  of  the  mhahitioii  of  chloro- 
form is  some  excitement  and  stimulation,  \vhirh 
varies  a  great  deal  in  different  individuals,  and 
also  varies  with  regard  to  the  administrator.  Ex- 
pert operators  can  administer  chloroform  so  as  to 
produce  very  little  disturbance.  It  is  not  exactly 
a  spasmodic  condition  ;  it  is  rather  one  of  intox- 
icating excitement,  which  is  soon  followed  by  a 
condition  of  relaxation  and  insensibility.  In 
animals  the  effect  is  usually  violent,  in  the  nature 
of  a  fright,  but  the  effect  soon  becomes  that  of  in- 
sensibility." 

So  that  the  tendency  of  a  person  under  the  in- 
fluence of  chloroform  would  be  to  move  restlessly, 
there  being  an  inclination  to  motion,  and  a  man 
could  not  compose  himself  and  lie  down,  saying, 
"  I  will  put  this  towel  over  my  face,  and  I'll  have 
this  tube  come  down  and  feed  the  towel  with 
chloroform,  and  I'll  just  go  to  sleep."  He  couldn't 
do  it.  It  is  physically  impossible  for  him  to  do  so. 
There  would  be  a  spasm;  there  would  be  con- 
tortion ;  there  would  be  motion  of  the  body  that 
would  displace  that  pre-arranged  condition.  And 
why?  Because  he  cannot  control  himself  in  ap- 
proaching unconsciousness.  I  think  a  man  at  the 
beginning  might  say,  "  I'll  do  this,"  yet  the  chloro- 


41(i     ARGUMKXT  OF   TlfF   DIsTUICT  ATTORNEV. 

form  takes  away  liis  Ihought  and  his  reason,  so 
that  he  is  unable  to  do  it,  and  becomes  uncon- 
scious in  the  very  act  of  struggling.  If  any  of 
you  gentlemen  have  ever  taken  any  anesthetic 
preparatory  to  having  a  tooth  extracted,  yon  may 
remember  that  while  you  breathed  the  gas,  you 
found  it  grew  harder,  and  that  suddenly,  with  a 
gasp  and  a  struggle,  you  passed  into  unconscious- 
ness. Well,  you  could  not  arrange  yourself  after 
that,  because  the  next  thing  you  know  is  when 
the  dentist  taps  you  on  the  chin  or  on  the  head, 
and  says,  "  Sit  up ;  it's  all  right."  You  have  been 
unconscious  all  that  time,  absolutely  ignorant  of 
what  was  done  to  you,  with  no  power  to  place 
yourself  in  any  position.  Now  Dr.  Leffman  was 
furtlier  examined  : 

"■  Q.  Is  there  any  struggle  before  insensibility 
takes  place  ? 

A.  There  very  often  is  a  struggle  by  the  pa- 
tient being  apparently  not  exactl}-  aware  of  the 
character  of  the  struggle.  It  is  rather  an  involun- 
tary struggle,  or  at  least,  a  semi-conscious  con- 
dition. 

Q.  An  effort  of  nature,  is  it  not,  to  resist  the 
effects  ? 

A.     To  resist  the  effects.     Also  it  is  probably 


ARGU3IENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     447 

connected  with  the  dh"ect  intoxicating  effect  of 
the  drug. 

Q.  The  description  given  us  in  this  case  by 
those  who  found  the  body  describe  it  as  being 
found  lying  upon  the  back  with  one  arm  placed 
thus  (indicating)  across  the  bod}-,  the  right  arm, 
and  the  left  arm  close  to  the  side,  the  feet  stretched 
out,  heels  together,  in  a  composed  condition,  lying 
on  the  back.  I  want  to  ask  you  whether  or  not  it 
is  possible  for  a  man  to  administer  chloroform  to 
himself  and  then  compose  himself  into  such  a  po- 
sition as  that? 

A.     I  think  not." 

Now  this  is  the  only  testimony  you  have  on  that 
subject,  and  his  answer  is,  "  I  think  not."  That 
is  his  opinion  as  an  expert — that  it  cannot  be 
done. 

''  Q.     Why  ? 

A.  No  one  is  aware  of  the  time  when  con- 
sciousness ceases.  Judging  from  my  own  expe- 
rience, I  have  been  four  times  under  the  influence 
of  anesthetics,  there  is  a  condition  of  confusion 
before  true  insensibility  comes  on,  and  it  would 
be,  I  think,  impossible  for  anyone  to  arrange  the 
body  in  a  perfectly  composed  condition  like  that 
entirely  by  the  person's  own  act.     It  would  not,  I 


448     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

think,  be  a  natural  position  into  which  the  body 
would  come  by  a  person  administering  chh)roform 
to  liimself." 

A  man  would  be  apt,  if  he  had  had  it  put  to 
his  lace,  to  have  fallen  forward  on  the  floor,  or 
caused  a  struggle,  and  have  thrown  down  and 
displaced  that  tube.  He  could  not  have  been 
found  as  this  man  describes  him,  in  that  composed 
condition,  if  the  chloroform  was  self-administered. 
Dr.  Leffman  said  that  it  could  be  administered 
in  sleep  without  awaking  a  person.  This  man 
Holmes  did  not  have  to  ring  the  doorbell  to  enter 
this  house.  He  had  a  key.  The  testimony  has 
shown  you  that,  and  he  could  enter  it  when  he 
pleased.  If  the  man  happened  to  be  in  a  drunken 
sleep,  if  he  had  a  pint  of  whiskey,  and  was  in  an 
intoxicated  sleep,  then  how  easy  the  task  to  ad- 
minister chloroform  to  him,  and  then  compose 
him,  while  the  body  was  still  fresh  and  warm,  and 
put  him  in  this  position — how  easily  that  could 
be  done  !  Holmes  could  enter  with  his  key  ;  he 
had  access  to  the  house — access  to  the  man — 
knowledge  of  the  condition  around  the  house — 
ability  to  use  the  chloroform — everything  in  his 
favor  ;  it  was  no  trouble  to  him. 

Dr.  Leffman  was  further  examined  as  follows ; 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTBTCT  ATTORNEY.     449 

"  Q.     Is  chloroform  easy  to  swallow  ? 

A.  It  is  rather  objectionable  ;  the  taste.  It  is 
an  irritable  substance,  and  its  taste  is  of  a  disa- 
greeable sweet  character,  so  that  it  is  even  diffi- 
cult for  persons  to  swallow  it  in  small  amounts." 

He  illustrated  by  a  few  drops  in  water. 

This  question  was  then  put  to  him  : 

"  Q.  If  a  person  was  lying  on  his  back,  flat  on 
the  floor,  with  a  tube  leading  from  a  bottle  con- 
taining chloroform  to  the  mouth,  could  there  be 
any  of  that  pass  into  the  stomach  in  that  posi- 
tion ? " 

Now  this  is  the  testimony  of  a  competent  ex- 
pert on  the  subject,  a  man  of  keen,  clear  judg- 
ment ;  it  is  the  uncontradicted  testimony  in  the 
case,  and  there  has  been  no  effort  to  conti'adict  it 
— not  one  word  said  against  it  by  anybody.  It 
is  the  absolutely  uncontradicted  testimony,  and 
counsel  accepted  it  on  the  other  side  as  a  true 
statement.     The  answer  was  : 

"A.  If  it  ran  into  the  mouth  in  considerable 
quantity  it  would  produce  a  choking  effect  which 
would  cause  the  prisoner  to  move  about  and  dis- 
turb the  condition.  I  do  not  tliink  it  could  flow 
quietly  without  disturbing   the   individual,  from 

the  tube  down  into  the  stomach. 
26 


450     ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

Q.  State  whether  or  not  the  direction  would 
be  rather  up  hill  than  down  hill,  to  flow  into  tlie 
stomach  through  the  oesophagus  ? 

A.     Yes,  sir. 

Q.  If  lying  on  the  back>  it  would  have  to  flow 
uphill? 

A.     Rather  up  hill,  a  little  higher  level. 

Q.  How  about  the  bronchii  and  the  lung  cav- 
ity connecting  with  it  in  that  position  ? 

A.  They  are  always  distended.  The  bronchii 
are  stiff  walled  and  there  would  be  some  possibil- 
ity of  the  chloroform,  probably  of  some  of  it  get- 
ting into  the  bronchii.  It  is  a  volatile  vapor,  and 
some  of  the  vapor  would  pass  in  there  also.  At 
the  temperature  of  the  body  it  is  decidedly  vola- 
tile. 

Q.  The  absence  of  chloroform  in  the  bronchii 
would  indicate  what,  under  those  circumstances?" 

You  will  remember  that  there  was  none  found 
in  the  bronchii.  His  answer  was :  "  A.  It 
would  indicate  that  there  was  no  very  great 
quantity  in  the  mouth."  So  that  the  physical 
conditions  in  this  dead  man's  case  deny  the  piis- 
oner's  theory.  His  theory  and  his  story  is  that  it 
flowed  down  in  such  quanlllios  that  it  forced  it- 
self down  into  the  stoinaeh,  but   none  was  found 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTEWT  ATTORNEY.     451 

in  the  bronchii  ;  none  was  found  to  have  pene- 
trated there,  and  I  said  to  him,  "  Doctor,  wliat 
does  the  absence  of  it  there  indicate  ?  "  He  said, 
"  It  indicates  that  there  was  never  very  much  in 
tlie  mouth."  There  could  not  have  been.  There- 
fore, there  was  not  this  quantity  that  Avould  have 
forced  it  into  the  stomach,  and  the  very  physical 
condition  of  this  corpse  denies  the  story  of  the 
other  side,  that  was  artfully  pahned  off  upon  the 
officials,  to  explain  the  death  of  Benjamin  F.  Pite- 
zel. 

Dr.  Leffman  further  testified  : 

"  Q.  Could  the  chloroform  pass  a  dead  oesoph- 
agus without  outside  aid  of  a  living  person  ? 

A.  I  think  not.  The  oesophagus  is  collapsed 
in  its  active  condition,  and  I  do  not  think  a  dead 
oesophagus  could  swallow  any  appreciable  amount 
of  chloroform. 

Q.     Explain  to  the  jury  what  the  oesophagus  is? 

A.  It  is  the  tube  leading  from  the  mouth  to 
the  stomach.  It  is  the  tube  through  which  the 
food  passes.  It  is  a  muscular  tube  which  the 
food  is  passed  down  by  a  sort  of  contraction,  the 
tube  contracting  after  the  food  and  expanding  be- 
fore it,  so  that  the  food  is  quickly  passed  on  into 
the  stomach.     The  bronchii,  or  trachea,  which  are 


452     ABQUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

the  bronchial  divisions  of  trachea,  are  the  tubes 
leading  to  the  lungs.  They  are  stiff  walled,  al- 
waj's  open,  and  rather  larger  than  the  oesoiDhagus. 
At  the  upper  part,  at  least.  They  divide  and 
sub-divide,  becoming  very  small,  penetrating  all 
parts  of  the  lungs. 

Q.  Does  or  does  not  the  act  of  swallowing  re- 
quire an  effort  of  the  will  ? 

A.  It  requires  an  effort  of  certain  muscles. 
Not  exactly  of  the  will. 

Q.     A  voluntary  act  ? 

A.  It  requires  'the  act  of  certain  muscles,  of 
living  tissue.  It  is  really  involuntary  in  the  sense 
that  when  the  food  once  starts  we  cannot  control 
it.  After  it  starts  we  cannot  control  it.  The 
first  part  of  the  act  is  voluntary,  but  back  of  tlie 
back  part  of  the  tongue  the  food  goes  without  our 
control.  It  requires  the  action  of  living  tissue. 
It  is  a  reflex  effect ;  that  is,  it  requires  an  irrita- 
tion of  tlie  surface  of  the  mouth  and  swallowing 
tube,  which  is  returned  by  a  nerve  current  back 
to  the  muscles  that  perform  the  act. 

Q.  Would  tliere  be  any  effect  upon  the  lining 
of  the  stomach  visible  in  a  post  mortem  examina- 
tion due  to  the  taking  of  chloroform  in  the 
stomach  in  life  ? 


AMUMENT  OF  THE   DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      453 

A.  I  would  expect  to  see  tlie  stomach  irri- 
tated— the  lining  membrane  irritated  as  by  an 
ordinar}^  irritant. 

Q.  Would  the  absence  of  that  irritation  indi- 
cate that  the  chloroform  had  been  inserted  in  life 
or  after  death  ? 

A.  The  absence  of  the  irritation  would  indi- 
cate that  the  chloroform  had  not  been  in  the 
stomach  long  enough  to  produce  any  of  its  effects. 
It  would  indicate  at  least  an  introduction  of  the 
chloroform  very  near  to  death. 

Q.  After  death  would  it  produce  an  irrita- 
tion ? 

A.     It  would  produce  no  irritation  after  death. 

Q.  So  that  if  it  were  inserted  after  death,  you 
would  not  find  the  irritation  ? 

A.     No,  sir." 

Now  both  doctors  are  positive  that  an  examina- 
tion upon  the  post  mortem  disclosed  no  irritation 
of  the  walls  of  the  stomach  due  to  chloroform. 

Q.  So  that  if  it  were  inserted  after  death, 
you  would  not  find  the  irritation  ? 

A.     No,  sir. 
■    Q.     If  it  were  inserted  in  life,  you  would  ex- 
pect to  find  that  as  one   of  the  natural  conse- 
quences? 


454     ARGmiENT  OF   THE  DISTlilCT  ATTOKNEY, 

A.     Yes,  sir." 

Now  I  ask  your  atteutioii  to  this  question: 

"  Q.  Taking  the  history  of  this  case  as  I  have 
given  it  to  you,  could  you  say  whether  or  not,  in 
your  opinion  as  an  expert,  the  chloroform  in  this 
case  was  self-administered  or  administered  by  a 
second  person  ? 

"The  Prisoner:  1  object  to  that  question, 
for  this  reason,  that  I  think  it  should  be  stated 
distinctly  as  to  wliat  the  District  Attorney  means 
by  '  as  this  case  has  been  stated.'  " 

The  District  Attorney  then  stated  : 

"  I  will  repeat  it,  I  have  stated  to  you.  Doc- 
tor, that  this  body  was  found  lying  upon  its  back 
upon  the  floor,  with  one  hand  laid  across  the  body 
in  this  wise  (illustrating),  and  the  other  lying 
close  to  the  side,  both  limbs  stretched  out,  heels 
together,  and  the  whole  body  in  a  condition  or 
pose  of  repose,  and  there  was  congestion  of  the 
lungs,  and  empty  heart,  and  while  there  was  an 
alcoholic  condition  of  the  stomach,  there  was  no 
irritation  of  the  lining,  but  there  was  chloroform 
in  the  stomach,  a  pipe  filled  with  tobacco  lying  at 
the  side,  a  burned  match  beside  it.  Those  are 
the  conditions  as  I  intended  to  describe  them.'* 

That  is  the  answer  to   the  statement  of  this 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.      455 

man  ;  the  very  condition  physically  and  other- 
wise of  this  body  indicate  that  it  could  not  have 
been  self-administered.  That  man  did  not  die  by 
his  own  hand.  If  he  did  not  die  by  his  own  hand 
then  it  was  by  the  defendant's  hand,  for  he  was 
the  only  person  who  was  with  him  at  the  time. 

"Q.  It  could  not  have  been  self -ad  ministered 
under  those  conditions  ? 

.\.     No,  sir." 

Now  you  are  to  try  this  case  according  to  the 
evidence,  and  that  is  the  uncontradicted  evidence 
in  this  case ;  the  evidence  that  this  could  not 
have  been  self-administered,  the  finding  of  that 
body,  the  place  where  it  was,  the  surrounding 
conditions  all  clearly  indicate  that  this  man  was 
not  self-poisoned,  but  was  poisoned  by  a  second 
person. 

See  how  far  in  our  progress  we  have  come.  We 
have  established  that  this  is  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel, 
we  have  established  that  he  has  died  of  chloro- 
form poisoning,  we  have  established  that  that  was 
not  self-administered,  but  administered  by  a  sec- 
ond person  ;  we  have  shown  that  he  was  there  in 
that  house  on  that  fateful  Sunday  alone  with  the 
dead  man  ,  we  have'  shown  that  every  story  told 
by  him  to  explain  his  presence  was  false  ,  we  have 


4r>(J     ARGUMENT  OF   THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY. 

shown  lliut  his  theory  and  therefore  his  allegation 
of  suicide  was  false;  we  have  shown  the  effort  at 
concealment  when  there  was  no  other  object  unless 
it  be  that  the  defendant  knew  he  had  committed  a 
murder  and  was  telling  these  falsehoods  one  after 
the  other  to  conceal  it.  Upon  no  other  hypoth- 
esis can  his  conduct  be  explained  than  that  lie 
was  concealing  the  crime  of  murder.  That  is 
what  made  him  flee  from  city  to  city,  that  is  what 
made  him  take  this  wife  with  him  upon  this  won- 
derful journey,  that  is  what  made  him  take  even 
the  children  along,  that  is  what  made  him  conceal 
the  letters  and  that  is  w^hat  made  him  shut  off 
communication  between  the  different  members  of 
that  household.  This  man  was  fleeing  from  the 
shadow  of  murder  ;  that  was  the  crime  he  was 
seeking  to  avoid,  that  was  what  he  was  fleeing 
from.  It  w'as  the  menace  of  pursuit  and  detec- 
tion that  made  him  take  this  journey  which,  if  it 
had  not  been  interrupted  at  Boston,  would  only 
have  terminated  when  he  reached  Berlin  with  his 
alleged  wife.  Miss  Yoke. 

I  have  now  occupied  joxxv  time  a  great. deal 
longer  than  I  expected,  and  I  trust  you  will  at- 
tribute it  only  to  the  desire  I  have  to  fully  aid  you 
by  every  thought  I  can  present  on  this  testimony. 


ARGmiENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTOENEY.      457 

You  are  to  listen  to  counsel  upon  the  otlier 
side.  I  do  not  know  what  they  will  say,  I  do  not 
know  what  their  line  of  defence  will  be.  You 
must  remember  that  the  Commonwealth  is 
obliged  to  grope  in  the  dark ;  we  have  not  the 
aid  of  an  opening  speech  from  my  friend  to  in- 
di'  "^e  the  line  of  defence,  so  I  am  left  completely 
\n  the  dark  as  to  what  course  the  argument  on 
the  other  side  is  going  to  take.  But  I  want 
to  call  your  attention  to  the  limitation  put  upon 
it  by  the  evidence.  Under  this  evidence  there 
is  only  one  thing  the  counsel  can  argue  to  you, 
which  is  that  Pitezel  committed  suicide  and  was 
not  murdered.  There  is  nothing  else  in  this  case 
but  that  narrow  question,  and  it  is  in  the  line 
of  that  thought  I  have  called  your  attention  to 
the  facts  and  circumstances,  and  the  testimony  of 
the  experts  which  exclude  the  theory  of  suicide. 
It  is  in  that  connection  I  have  called  your  atten- 
tion to  Pitezel's  own  declaration  and  what  he  said 
and  did,  indicating  his  hopeful  outlook  on  the 
future,  and  shown  that  there  is  not  a  scintilla  of 
evidence  here  to  indicate  any  intention  upon  his 
part  to  commit  suicide,  and  I  ask  you  if  it  is  pos- 
sible upon  the  statements  of  this  man  concerning 
the  mechanical   contrivance  of  a  bottle,    a  tube 


458     A  Rd  CM  EST  OF    THK  DL'^TRlCr  ATTORNEY. 

and  a  towel  ;  the  condition  in  which  the  deceased 
was  [ihiced  and  the  circumstances  under  whicli 
the  body  was  found,  you  are  going  to  set  aside  the 
weight  of  this  mass*  of  testimony  pointing  to 
a  guilty  crime  and  say  that  this  subterfuge,  this 
tricky  statement  shall  work  an  acquittal  of  the 
prisoner,  when  the  charge  is  so  thoroughly  and 
completely  brought  home  to  him  by  the  evidence 
in  this  case  ;  such  evidence  as  that  of  Dr.  Leff- 
man,  who  says  it  would  be  impossible  for  the 
chloroform  to  be  self-administered,  the  untenable 
description  of  the  contrivance  ftir  the  alleged  self- 
adminstration  in  which,  the  Doctor  says,  there  is 
no  provision  made  for  an  air  vent  so  that  the  air 
might  enter  and  the  liquid  flow  out  of  the  bottle. 
The  story  of  the  explanation  of  how  suicide  was 
committed  will  not  stand  the  test  of  criticism,  and 
how  the  defence  of  suicide  is  going  to  be  sup[)orted 
by  any  reasonable  argument  I  am  at  a  loss  to  un- 
derstand. I  ask  you  to  confine  yourselves  to  the 
testimony  concerning  the  facts  in  this  case :  not 
the  statements  of  counsel,  not  the  things  outside 
of  the  case,  but  to  the  evidence  as  you  have  heard 
it  and  as  I  have  endeavored  to  review  it  and  re- 
call it  to  your  memory  so  that  you  ma}^  be  able  to 
be  guided  by  it  in  reaching  a  proper  result. 


ABGUMEXT  OF  THE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY.     459 

Now  this  btrange  trial  is  drawing  rapidly  tu  a 
close.  It  has  been  dramatic  in  its  incidents,  but 
those  incidents  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  case. 
The  fact  that  this  man  appears  without  counsel 
and  then  with  counsel  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
question  of  his  guilt  or  innocence.  The  simple 
question  is,  Has  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, as  it  is  bound  to  do,  made  out  its  case 
beyond  a  fair  and  reasonable  doubt  ?  If  you 
believe  it  has,  then  your  duty  is  to  find  a  ver- 
dict of  murder  of  the  first  degree  against  this 
man. 

I  told  you  in  the  opening  that,  while  iu  this 
bill  of  indictment  there  were  several  degrees  of 
guilt  which  you  might  find  in  your  verdict,  and 
that  you  might  also  find  a  verdict  of  not  guilty, 
yet  the  evidence  would  point  indubitably  to  one 
result ;  this  man  is  either  innocent  and  ought  to 
be  acquitted,  or  is  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  de- 
gree. There  is  no  middle  ground  in  this  case.  It 
is  the  highest  crime  known  to  the  law  under  the 
circumstances  surrounding  the  deceased,  fur  he 
was  poisoned  to  death,  and  the  poisoning  itself 
indicates  a  clear  intent  to  kill.  If  this  man  were 
poisoned  then  there  was  the  purpose  to  kill,  and 
it  was  a  wilful,  premeditated  and  deliberate  mur- 


-16(1      ARai'MKXT  OF   THE   DISTRICT  ATTOKNEr. 

der,  and  lliis  prisoner  is  responsible  in  the  highest 
form  of  verdict  you  can  render. 

I  know  it  is  not  a  pleasant  or  agreeable  duty  to 
be  called  upon  as  you  are,  taken  from  your  ordi- 
nary pursuits  and  selected  to  sit  here  and  as  part 
of  the  administration  of  criminal  justice,  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  the  life  of  a  fellow  man.  You 
doubtless  find  it  repugnant  and  disagreeable,  ai.d 
I  can  readily  understand  how  you  might  shrink 
from  finding  such  a  verdict  as  the  one  I  ask  in- 
volving the  consequences  it  does;  so  as  my  con- 
cluding thought  I  appeal  to  your  manhood  and 
sense  of  right  and  ask  you  to  do  what  the  crier  of 
the  court  has  asked  you  to  do,  "  Stand  together, 
good  men  and  true." 

You  have  hearkened  to  the  evidence.  I  ask 
you  to  complete  the  work  Avhich  the  law  has  cast 
upon  you  by  fearlessly,  manfully  and  honestlj'  de- 
claring your  judgment  upon  this  evidence,  no 
matter  what  that  judgment  may  involve  to  this 
man  ;  no  matter  what  its  consequences  may  be  to 
the  Commonwealth.  It  requires  courage  to  dis- 
charge one's  duty  in  times  of  peace  ;  in  the  tem- 
ple of  justice,  as  part  of  the  administration  of  the 
criminal  law,  just  as  it  does  upon  the  field  of  bat- 
tle in  its  flame  and  smoke.     The  man  who  faces 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  DISrRTCT  ATTORNEY.     4G1 

the  cannon's  month,  the  man  who  faces  the  charg- 
ing legiment,  has  no  greater  or  higlier  conrage 
tlian  tlie  man  who  sits  calmly  in  the  place  of  a 
juror,  rising  in  his  majesty,  might  and  strength  as 
an  individnal  man  to  discharge  fearlessly  a  great 
and  solemn  duty.  I  ask  you  to  stand  as  men,  and 
if  you  believe  this  man  is  guilty,  aye,  though  it 
consign  him  to  punishment  that  involves  death,  he 
true  to  your  conscience,  be  true  to  your  oaths, 
discharge  that  duty  fearlessly  in  the  sight  of  God 
and  man,  and  remember  you  are  not  responsible 
for  his  fate.  That  was  sealed  in  the  silence  of 
that  Sunday  in  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street.  He 
wrouglit  the  facts  and  fashioned  the  circumstances 
that  brought  him  here.  You  are  not  responsible 
for  his  being  here  or  for  his  trial  upon  this  charge  ; 
you  are  only  respojisible  as  good  men  and  true  for 
the  finding  of  a  righteous,  an  honest,  and  a  just 
verdict. 

I  ask  you,  therefore,  while  guarding  against 
prejudice,  while  guarding  against  any  false  ap- 
peal, not  to  be  afraid  to  do  your  duty  like  men 
and  not  to  cower  in  the  presence  of  that  duty 
though  it  involves  things  upon  your  part  whicii 
are  repugnant,  things  that  are  repellant,  things 
that  you  would  far  rather  shift  away  from  you  and 


4(1.!     ARGUMKXT  OF   THE   DISTBICT  ATTOllXEY. 

uvoicl  encountering.  I  ask  you  to  Tace  the  duly 
raid  acquit  j-ourselves  like  men.  I  \iwo\\  that 
great  stress  will  be  laid  upon  "  A  i  easonable 
doubt."  "If  you  have  a  doubt  this  man  is  enti- 
tled to  the  benefit  of  it."  So  he  is,  but  it  must 
not  be  a  doubt  suggested  by  the  desire  to  avoid 
tlie  performance  of  an  unpleasant  duty.  If  the 
evidence  fails  to  make  the  case  out  he  is  entitled 
to  his  acquittal,  but  you  are  asked  to  perform  no 
higher  function  here  than  in  your  own  home  or 
office  or  place  of  business.  If  this  evidence  would 
convince  you  as  men  outside  of  this  Court  of  this 
man's  guilt  it  ought  to  convince  you  equally  in 
the  jury  box. 

There  are  no  tuo  standards  of  judgment,  there 
are  no  two  standards  by  which  to  reach  the  result. 
Your  minds  must  operate  siin])ly  and  only  as  plain 
lioiiest  men.  Isecause  3"0u  are  sworn  as  jurors; 
you  are  given  no  higlier  [lOwer  of  discrimination, 
no  greater  judgment  ;  you  are  asked  sini[i]y  io  ae- 
([liit  yourselves  as  in  the  everyday  affairs  of  life. 
If  this  testimony  convinces  you  of  his  guilt  you 
must  say  so  ;  if  it  convinces  you  of  his  innocence 
lionestly  then  yt)U  should  acquit. 

I  ask  3'ou  to  remember  this  testimony,  I  ask 
you  to  remember  that  it  is  uncontradicted,  that 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE   DTSTniC'T  ATTOUNEY.      MX:. 

there  is  not  one  scintilla  of  evidence  to  attack  tlie 
statement  of  Dr.  Leffnian,  that  there  is  not  one 
scintilla  of  evidence  to  attack  the  statement  of 
Dr.  Scott  or  of  Dr.  Mattern  ;  those  statements 
stand  before  you  unchallenged.  Nay,  I  go  further 
and  say  they  stand  before  you  admitted.  They 
are  admitted  in  this  case.  In  the  face  of  this  evi- 
dence and  his  statements  ;  in  the  face  of  his  flight 
far  away,  there  can  be  but  one  conclusion  in  your 
minds  I  am  sure,  and  that  is  that  the  man  in  the 
dock  is  guilty  in  the  manner  and  form  in  which 
lie  stands  indicted  of  this  ciime. 

I  thank  you  for  your  patience  and  earnest  atten- 
tion. I  iiave  been  talking  to  you  for  nearly  two 
liours  and  a  half,  very  much  longer  than  I  ex- 
pected, and  although  perhaps  uninteresting  and 
rather  prosaic  and  full  of  detail,  you  have  given 
me  your  earnest  attention  from  beginning  to  end. 
I  ask  you  to  give  it  now  to  my  adversary  and  then 
to  the  Court  and  to  the  end,  and  with  your  ver- 
dict whatever  it  may  be  conscientiously  reached  I 
will  be  satisfied. 


APPENDIX  II. 


Commonwealth  1  Court  of  Oyer  &  Terminer 

vs.  I  Philadelphia  County. 

Herman  W.  Mudgett,  alias  (  Sept.  Sessions,  1895. 

H.  H.  Holmes.  J  No.  466. 


motion  for  new  trial, 

Arnold,  J.  The  first  three  reasons  assigned  for  a 
new  trial,  to  wit,  that  the  verdict  is  against  the  evi- 
dence and  the  law,  render  necessary  a  statement  of  the 
facts,  a?  +,hey  were  developed  by  the  evidence  at  the 
trial. 

The  defendant  aud  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,the  deceased, 
were  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  to  cheat  and  defraud  the 
Fidelity  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company  of  Philadel- 
phia.  In  pursuance  of  their  scheme,  Pitezel  obtained 
a  policy  of  insurance  on  his  life,  dated  November  9th, 
1893,  for  $10,000,  payable  to  Carrie  A.  Pitezel,  his  wife. 
Pitezel  lived  in  St.  Louis,  and  the  defendant  at  Wil- 
mette,  a  town  about  fourteen  miles  from  Chicago. 
Pitezel  left  St.  Louis  to  come  to  Philadelphia  on  July 
29th,  1894,  rented  and  occupied  the  house  No.  1316  Cal- 
lowhill  Street,  assumed  the  name  of  B.  F.  Perry,  and 
held  himself  out  as  a  dealer  in  patents.  The  defendant 
appears  to  have  come  to  Philadel[)hia  shortly  there- 
after, and  took  board  for  himself  and  putative  wife  on 
August  5th,  1894,  at  No.  1905  N.  11th  Street,  a  distance 
of  nearly  two  miles  from  the  house  in  which  Pitezel 
lived.  On  Tuesday,  September  4th,  1894,  Pitezel  was 
found  dead  in  his  house ;  his  body  was  lying  on  the 
27  (465) 


466  MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL. 

floor,  composed  in  position,  but  decomposed  in  condi- 
tion ;  his  right  arm  was  laid  across  his  breast;  his  left 
arm  was  lying  by  his  side ;  his  breast  was  burned,  ex- 
cept that  part  of  it  which  was  covered  by  his  arm  ;  his 
face  was  black  from  decomposition,  and  there  was  a 
strench  arising  from  his  body,  which  indicated  that  he 
had  been  dead  for  several  days.  Beside  him  was  a 
pipe,  filled  with  tobacco,  but  not  smoked  ;  also  a  burnt 
match.  There  was  also  a  broken  bottle,  containing  a 
mixture  of  benzine,  chloroform  and  probably  ammonia, 
near  to  his  side,  so  that  the  appearance  of  things  indi- 
cated that  there  had  been  an  explosion.  Pieces  of  the 
bottle,  however,  were  not  scattered  about  the  floor,  nor 
sticking  in  the  side  of  Pitezel,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected in  case  of  an  explosion,  but  they  were  all  on  the 
inside  of  the  bottle. 

Pitezel  was  last  seen  alive  by  several  witnesses  on 
Saturday,  September  1st,  1894,  on  the  evening  of  which 
day  he  purchased  a  pint  of  whiskey,  and  took  it  home 
with  him.  Subsequent  developments  proved  that  Pite- 
zel came  to  his  death  on  Sunday,  September  2d,  1894, 
and  that  his  body  lay  unseen  by  any  witness,  so  far  as 
knuwn,  until  Tuesday,  September  4th,  1894,  when  it  was 
discovered  by  a  man  named  Eugene  Smith,  who  had 
called  to  see  Pitezel  on  the  day  before,  but  not  finding 
Pitezel,  and  getting  no  response  to  his  call  for  Pitezel, 
went  away  and  returned  the  following  day,  Tuesday, 
and  upon  going  to  the  second  story,  saw  Pitezel's  body 
lying  on  the  floor.  Smith  went  immediately  to  the 
police  station,  obtained  two  officers,  and  also  a  neigh- 
boring doctor,  with  all  of  whom  he  returned  to  the 
house,  and  found  the  body  in  the  condition  above  de- 
scribed. The  coroner's  physician  was  also  sent  for, 
and  upon  an  examination  of  the  organs  and  vital  parts 
of  the  deceased,  the  conclusion  of  the  coroner's  physi- 
cian, and  Dr.  Scott,  who  took  part  in  the  examination, 
was  that  Pitezel  had  been  killed  by  chloroform  poison- 
ing, and  that  the  chloroform  was  not  self-administered. 


MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL.  467 

His  lungs  were  congested ;  his  heart  was  empty,  which 
indicated  sudden  death ;  there  was  very  little  food  in 
his  stomach;  his  kidneys  were  alcoholic  and  so  was  his 
stomach.  The  doctors  found  half  an  ounce  or  more  of 
chloroform  in  the  stomach,  but  as  the  stomach  was  not 
irritated,  their  conclusion  was  that  the  chloroform  was 
put  in  after  death.  On  the  night  of  September  2d, 
1894,  the  defendant  suddenly  and  hurriedly  left  Phila- 
delphia, giving  a  false  destination  to  his  landlady.  He 
had  been  away  from  his  boarding  house  from  10:30  A. 
M.  to  4  P.  M.  that  day,  and  when  he  returned  he  was 
excited,  nervous  and  worried,  and  his  underclothing 
was  wet  with  perspiration.  Pitezel  was  buried,  under 
the  name  of  Porry,  as  a  pauper  in  the  Potter's  Field. 
Several  days  thereafter,  the  officers  of  the  life  insur- 
ance company  received  word  from  the  defendant  that 
the  man  who  was  buried  under  the  name  of  B.  F. 
Perry,  was  the  person  who  was  insured  in  their  com- 
pany under  the  name  of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel,  and  he 
offered  to  furnish  proof  of  identification  of  the  body. 
The  agent  of  the  company  went  to  see  the  defendant  at 
his  house  at  Wilmette,  but  did  not  find  him.  He 
found,  however,  a  lady  who  said  she  was  the  defend- 
ant's wife.  Shortly  thereafter,  a  letter  was  received 
from  the  defendant,  stating  that  he  had  heard,  through 
his  wife,  that  he  was  wanted,  and  in  due  course  the 
defendant  came  to  Philadelphia  after  having  arranged 
that  Alice  Pitezel,  the  daughter  of  the  dead  man, 
should  also  come  here  for  the  purpose  of  identify- 
ing the  body.  Accordingly  the  body  was  exhumed  on 
September  22d,  1894,  and  was  fully  identified  by  the 
defendant  and  by  Alice  Pitezel  as  the  body  of  B.  F. 
Pitezel.  On  that  identification,  the  insurance  com- 
pany paid  the  amount  of  the  policy,  on  September 
24th,  1894,  to  one  Jeptha  D.  Howe,  attorney  in  fact  for 
Carrie  A.  PitezeL  After  the  money  was  obtained,  it 
was  taken  to  St.  Louis,  where  Howe  retained  $2,500  for 
a  fee ;  $5,000  was  obtained  from  Mrs.  Pitezel  by  the  de- 


468  3I0TI0N  FOR   NEW  TRIAL. 

fendaat,  upon  his  statement  that  her  husband  owed 
that  amount  on  a  note;  and  the  balance  was  used  in 
paying  sundry  expenses,  Mrs.  Pitezel  retaining  only 
$500  of  the  money.  The  note  which  the  defendant 
stated  he  paid  with  the  $5,000  was  not  a  valid  note; 
nothing  had  ever  been  advanced  on  it;  nothing  was 
due  upon  it ;  and  nothing  was  actually  paid  upon  it,  the 
defendant,  in  fact,  keeping  the  money.  After  the 
money  was  received,  the  defendant  deceived  Mrs.  Pite- 
zel by  telling  her  that  her  husband  was  not  dead ;  that 
he  would  return  to  her  as  soon  as  possible,  coming  to 
her  by  way  of  Puget  Sound.  He  also  obtained  from 
her  the  custody  of  her  two  children,  Howard  and 
Nellie,  taking  them  to  Indianapolis,  as  he  said,  to  meet 
their  sister  Alice,  where  the  family  were  to  be  reunited. 
He  also  induced  Mrs.  Pitezel  to  leave  her  home,  taking 
her  remaining  daughter  and  a  babe  with  her,  and  going 
to  Detroit,  upon  the  promise  of  the  defendant  that  he 
would  produce  her  husband  in  that  city.  There  he 
registered  her  under  a  false  name,  kept  her  two  or 
three  weeks  without  producing  her  husband,  giving 
her,  among  his  excuses  for  not  doing  so,  his  assertion 
that  Pitezel  was  being  watched  by  detectives.  From 
Detroit,  he  led  her  to  Toronto ;  thence  to  Prescott, 
Canada;  thence  to  Ogdensburg,  New  York;  and  thence 
to  Burlington,  Vermont,  all  the  while  promising  to 
produce  her  husband  to  her,  and  her  children  also.  In 
some  of  these  places,  he  rented  furnished  houses  for 
her  to  live  in,  and  set  her  to  housekeeping.  In  Bur- 
lington, Vermont,  he  put  dynamite  in  the  cellar  among 
the  potatoes,  telling  her  to  take  the  dynamite  from  the 
cellar  and  carry  it  to  the  top  of  the  house.  She  did 
take  it  from  the  cellar,  but  did  not  take  it  to  the  top  of 
the  house,  for  the  reason,  as  she  said,  that  it  might  ex- 
plode, and  do  damage  to  the  things  stored  there.  From 
Burlington,  Vermont,  Mrs.  Pitezel,  and  the  two  chil- 
dren she  had  with  her,  went  with  a  messenger  sent  l-.y 
the  defendant,  to  Boston,  where  the  defendant  and 


MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL.  469 

Mrs.  Pitezel  were  arrested  about  November  19th,  1894, 
aud  held  to  await  requibitiou.  The  defeudant  was 
wanted  by  the  authorities  iu  Texas  upon  a  charge  of 
horse  stealing,  aud  also  by  the  authorities  in  Peuusyl- 
vania  to  answer  for  cheating  aud  defrauding  the  life 
insurance  company,  or  any  offense  which  miglit  be 
alleged  against  him  During  all  the  journey  in  search 
of  her  husband  aud  children,  the  defendant  told  Mrs. 
Pitezel  that  ho  was  in  correspondence  with  her  chil- 
dren, and  had  seen  her  husband,  and  would  produce 
him  and  them  at  the  various  places  to  which  he  took 
her;  but  all  this  was  a  deception  and  a  falsehood,  for 
she  never  saw  her  husband,  and  all  she  saw  of  her  chil- 
dren were  the  dead  bodies  of  two  of  them  at  the  morgue 
in  Indianapolis.  After  the  defendant  was  brought  to 
Philadelphia,  he  was  indicted  upon  the  charge  of  con- 
spiracy to  cheat  and  defraud  the  life  insurance  com- 
pany, by  palming  off  a  spurious  body  as  that  of  Pitezel, 
and  on  that  indictment,  pleaded  guilty,  and  sentence 
was  suspended  awaiting  further  investigation  by  the 
authorities.  Mrs.  Pitezel  was  confined  iu  prison  seven 
months  aud  then  discharged.  In  consequence  of 
further  investigation,  an  indictment  was  found  by  the 
Grand  Jury  on  September  12th,  1895,  charging  the  de- 
feudant with  the  murder  of  B.  F.  Pitezel  on  September 
2d,  1894.  At  the  tiial,  it  was  proved  by  several  wit- 
nesses, and  admitted  by  the  defendant's  counsel,  that 
B.  F.  Pitezel  was  dead.  It  was  also  proved  by  the 
statement  of  the  defendant  to  the  superintendent  of 
police,  and  one  of  the  detectives  of  Philadelphia,  as 
well  as  admitted  by  defendant's  counsel,  that  the  de- 
fendant was  in  Pitezpl's  house  on  Sundaj^  September 
2d,  1894,  the  day  on  which,  according  to  the  evidence, 
Pitezel  was  killed.  The  theory  of  the  defendant's 
counsel,  for  no  evidence  was  offered  by  him  to  sub- 
stantiate the  theory,  was  that  it  was  a  case  of  self- 
murder;  and  that  the  defendant,  fearing  that  the 
policy  of  insurance  would  be  vitiated  by  the  suicide  of 


470  MOTION  FOR   NEW   TRIAL. 

Pitezel  arranged  the  body  in  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  found,  set  fire  to  and  burned  it,  and  placed  tlie 
broken  bottles  alongside  of  it,  for  the  i)urpose  of  mak- 
ing it  appear  that  Pitezel  had  died  an  accidental  death, 
caused  by  the  explosion. 

Three  questions  were  submitted  to  the  jury  to  de- 
termine. First,  was  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel  dead.  Sec- 
ond, did  he  die  a  violent  death  ;  and  third,  if  he  died  a 
violent  death,  did  he  commit  suicide  or  did  the  defend- 
ant kill  him.  An  answer  to  either  one  of  these  ques- 
tions in  favor  of  the  defendant  would  have  entitled 
him  to  an  acquittal.  The  jury  resolved  them  all 
against  the  defendant,  and  found  him  guilty  of  murder 
of  the  first  degree.  Upon  the  hearing  of  the  motion 
for  a  new  trial,  I  had  the  valuable  aid  of  my  colleagues, 
Judges  Thayer  and  Willson.  The  evidence  was  le- 
hearsed  and  it  is  our  unanimous  opinion  that  the  ver- 
dict of  guilty  of  murder  of  the  first  degree  is  fully  jus- 
tified by  the  evidence,  and  upon  the  facts  of  the  case, 
there  is  no  ground  shown  for  a  new  trial. 

The  fourth  reason  assigned  is  new  matter  discovered 
since  the  trial.  At  the  argument  it  was  developed  that 
this  so-called  after-discovered  evidence  was  manufac- 
tured for  the  purpose  and  is  utterly  unworthy  of  belief, 
and  we  will  not  notice  it  farther. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  reasons  assigned  are  that  the 
District  Attorney,  in  his  opening  speech,  made  state- 
ments which  were  not  proven,  and  which  related  to 
other  crimes  which  could  not  be  part  of  the  evidence; 
and  that  the  Court  erred  in  not  allowing  an  affidavit  to 
be  filed,  and  an  exception  to  the  statements  made  in 
the  District  Attorney's  opening  speech.  These  rea- 
sons, no  doubt,  are  based  upon  a  recent  ruling  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  in  Holden  vs.  The  Penna.  E.  E.  Co., 
1G9  Pa.,  1,  in  which  that  Court  granted  a  new  trial  be- 
cause of  the  remarks  of  counsel  in  summing  up  the 
evidence ;  abuse  of  witnesses,  and  other  outrageous 
misconduct,   which    the  Supreme  Court  properly  re- 


BIOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL.  471 

buked,  by  granting  a  new  trial.  A  similar  decision 
was  niade  in  Waldron  vs.  Waldron,  156  U.  S.  360  and 
cases  cited,  ''t  is  manifest  that  there  is  a  difference 
between  opening  speeches  and  summing  up.  In  sum- 
ming up  a  case,  counsel  can  be  and  should  be  kept 
strictly  within  the  evidence  given  at  the  trial,  and 
abuse  of  witnesses  without  cause,  and  without  decency, 
should  be  promptly  checked,  and  if  repeated,  should 
militate  against  a  verdict  obtained  by  such  means.  In 
the  opening,  however,  counsel  often  state  matters 
which  they  expect  to  prove,  but  fail  to  prove^  either 
from  want  of  witnesses,  or  by  reason  of  the  evidence 
being  excluded  by  the  Judge,  who  cannot  be  expected 
to  know  in  advance  whether  the  case  outlined  by  coun- 
sel will  be  permitted  to  be  proven.  As  to  the  exception, 
it  must  be  noticed  that  an  exception  is  always  pre- 
ceded by  an  objection,  and  the  exception  is  then  taken 
to  the  act  of  the  Judge  in  sustaining  or  overruling  the 
objection.  In  this  case,  no  objection  whatever  was 
made,  and  consequently  an  exception  has  nothing 
upon  which  it  can  be  based.  An  exception,  like  an  ob- 
jection, must  be  taken  at  the  time  the  objectionable 
act  is  done,  either  in  offering  evidence;  or  in  remarks 
to  the  jury.  The  District  Attorney's  opening  speech 
was  made  on  Monday,  October  28th,  and  no  exception 
thereto  was  asked  for  until  November  1st,  or  four  days 
thereafter. 

The  remarks  of  Judge  Dean  in  Commonwealth  vs. 
Welier,  167  Penna.,  164,  are  so  apropos  in  this  connec- 
tion, that  we  quote  them  verbatim  :  "  The  attitude  of 
defendant's  counsel,  as  exhibited  by  the  record,  is  in 
substance  this:  Counsel  for  the  Commonwealth  erred 
in  the  matter  of  his  addressing  the  jury.  I  erred  by 
remaining  silent  when  I  should  have  promptly  brought 
his  error  to  the  notice  of  the  Court  by  objection  ;  the 
Court  committed  no  error,  but  its  judgment  should  be 
reversed  because  I  did  not  perform  my  duty."  This 
illustrates  the  dilemma  in  which  counsel  are  placed  by 


472  MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL. 

their  own  conduct.  According  to  all  law  and  reason, 
the  exception  was-  asked  fur  too  late,  even  if  it  had 
been  preceded  hy  an  objection  made  in  time. 

If  it  be  said  that  the  defendant  was  at  this  time 
without  counsel,  the  answer  is  that  it  was  his  volun- 
tary and  deliberate  choice.  He  was  indicted  Septem- 
ber 12th,  1895.  On  September  23d,  he  was  arraigned. 
The  record  shows  that  his  two  counsel  were  present 
with  him  at  the  arraignment.  October  28th,  or  five 
weeks  thereafter,  was  fixed  for  his  trial.  Counsel 
stated  at  the  arraignment  that  they  would  not  be 
ready,  and  when  the  case  was  called  for  trial  moved 
for  a  continuance,  which  being  refused,  they  first 
threatened  to  withdraw  from  the  case,  and  on  being 
told  that  they  could  not  wiilidiaw  without  leave  of  the 
Court,  tliey  entered  upon  the  trial  by  questioning  the 
talesmen,  as  they  were  called  to  serve  as  jurors. 

After  being  thus  engaged  for  some  time  they  held  a 
consultation  with  their  client,  and  the  defendant  then 
announced  that  he  had  dismissed  his  counsel  and 
would  thereafter  conduct  the  case  himself.  Other 
counsel  were  assigned  him,  but  he  rejected  their  serv- 
ices. 

The  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania  as  well  as  of  the 
United  States,  secures  to  persons  accused  the  right  to 
have  counsel  to  assist  them  at  their  trial,  but  it  does 
not  attempt  to  force  counsel  upon  them.  The  right  of 
ever}'  man  to  plead  his  own  cause  is  a  natural  inherent 
right.  The  right  to  have  counsel  is  given  by  the  Con- 
stitution, and  no  man  can  be  deprived  of  the  right  to 
defend  himself  or  be  compelled  to  have  the  services  of 
counsel. 

The  Constitution  also  secures  to  the  defendant  the 
right  to  a  speedy  public  trial.  This  was  given  in  re- 
turn for  the  right  which  the  Commonwealth  possesses 
to  a  like  speedy  public  trial,  and  it  is  not  within  the 
power  of  persons  accused  to  say  when  they  will  be 
willing  to  be  tried,  or  to  defeat  a  trial  by  dilatory  mo- 


3I0TI0N  FOR  NEW  TRIAL.  473 

tions  and  practices  such  as  were  resorted  to  in  tliis 
case.  Nor  was  the  defendant  without  counsel,  for  dur- 
ing the  recesses  of  Court  and  in  the  morning  before 
the  openiog  of  Court  he  was  in  consultation  with  the 
same  counsel  whom  he  had  dischai'ged,  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  second  da3^  the  counsel  determined  to 
return  and  take  part  in  the  trial,  but  [permitted  the  de- 
fendant to  make  another  dilatory  motion,  which  was 
overruled,  and  the  counsel  immediately  returned  to 
the  conduct  of  the  case. 

The  opening  speech  ot"  the  District  Attorney  con- 
tained no  statement  not  induced  and  justified  by  the 
remarks  of  the  counsel  for  the  defendant  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  trial,  when  they  asked  for  a  continu- 
ance, because,  as  they  said,  there  were  to  be  three 
cases  of  murder  tried,  two  of  which  were  alleged  t<j 
have  been  committed  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  this 
Court. 

In  Commonwealth  vs.  Hanlon,  8  Philadelphia  Ee- 
ports,  423,  it  was  decided  by  Judge  Ludlow,  that  refer- 
ence in  opening  by  the  prosecuting  attorney  to  the  fact 
that  the  prisoner  had  been  guilty  of  other  crimes  is  not 
a  reason  for  a  new  trial.  The  Court  very  properly  con- 
sidered an  opening  speech  like  an  offer  of  evidence 
which  is  rejected.  An  offer  of  evidence,  which  is  re- 
jected, does  not  furnish  a  reason  for  the  release  of  a 
prisoner  charged  with  murder  or  to  annul  the  verdict 
and  require  a  new  trial.  Com.  vs.  Crossmire,  156  Pa., 
310. 

In  the  summing  up  of  the  District  Attorney,  no 
allusion  was  made  to  these  extra-territorial  murders, 
evidence  of  which  had  been  excluded,  for  the  reason 
that  no  such  connection  between  them  was  shown,  as 
was  required  in  Shaffner  vs.  The  Commonwealth,  72 
Pa.  60,  another  case  of  murder  by  poisoning  in  order 
to  obtain  insurance  money;  although  there  are  c;ises 
in  which  evidence  of  two  murders  at  the  same  time 
may  be  given  on  the  trial  of  one,  as  in  Brown  vs.  The 


474  MOTION  FOR   NEW  TRIAL. 

Commonwealth,  76  Pa.  319;  or  cases  in  which  an  in- 
heiitauce  is  secured  by  the  killing  of  two  persons  at 
different  times,  as  in  Goerson  vs.  The  Commonwealth, 
99  Pa.  388,  and  106  Pa.  477. 

In  charging  the  jury  I  was  careful  to  instruct  them 
that  it  was  their  duty  to  lay  aside  all  impressions,  and 
not  be  influenced  by  anything  which  they  heard  of 
other  cases  than  the  one  on  trial  and  decide  the  case 
only  on  the  evidence  given  at  the  trial.  Here  I  am 
tempted  to  say  that  the  offer  by  the  District  Attorney 
of  evidence  of  the  murder  of  other  members  of  Pite- 
zel's  family  might  well  have  been  admitted  to  show  the 
defendant's  purpose  to  kill  them  all  in  order  to  rid 
himself  of  their  claims  for  the  money  he  had  illegally 
obtained  horn  Mrs.  Pitezel,  and  therefore  the  opening 
speech  of  the  District  Attorney  was  not  open  to  ob- 
jection. The  violent  death  of  at  least  four  members  of 
the  family  after  they  were  within  the  defendant's  toils, 
woidd  justify  the  belief  that  they  were  murdered  by 
the  defendant,  and  that  the  murders  were  all  part  of 
one  common  design,  and  included  the  entire  Pitezel 
household.  The  dynamite  placed  in  the  Burlington 
house  by  the  defendant  with  his  directions  to  Mrs. 
Pitezel  to  remove  it,  looks  as  if  he  intended  to  take  her 
off  by  an  explosion. 

The  seventh  reason  is  that  the  District  Attorney,  in 
his  closing  speech,  mentioned  the  death  of  the  children, 
and  the  finding  of  their  dead  bodies  in  the  morgue. 
In  all  cases  of  crime,  especially  cases  of  alleged  mur- 
der, we  naturally  want  to  know  what  was  the  motive 
for  the  killing,  although  absence  of  proof  of  motive  is 
not  fatal  to  the  prosecution.  Commonwealth  vs.  Buc- 
cieni,  153  Pa.  525.  The  motive  alleged  for  the  killing 
in  this  case  was  a  desire  to  obtain  the  insurance  upon 
the  life  of  Pitezel.  The  insurance  money  was  payable  to 
his  wife.  When  she  received  the  money,  the  defendant 
obtained  from  her  at  least  $5,000  of  it,  in  payment  of 
an  alleged  debt  which  Pitezel  did  not  owe.     It  became 


MOTION  FOR   NEW  TRIAL.  475 

necessary  i'or  him  to  induce  Mrs.  Pitezel  to  believe 
that  tiie  money  was  obtained  by  fraud,  and  tlierefore 
did  not  belong  to  her;  that  her  husband  was  still  alive, 
and  the  defendant  promised  to  produce  Pitezel  to  his 
wife  in  the  several  cities  to  which  he  took  her.  He 
also  obtained  possession  of  three  of  her  children,  and 
lured  her  through  the  several  cities  in  the  vain  search 
for  her  children,  as  well  as  her  husband.  As  his 
motive  was  thus  to  obtain  her  money  by  deceiving  her, 
it  was  necessary  to  receive  her  evidence  of  the  decep- 
tion practiced  upon  her  in  the  several  cities  to  which 
he  took  her,  and  having  entered  upon  the  story  of  her 
travels  with  him  it  was  impossible,  as  well  as  improper, 
to  receive  only  part  of  that  story,  and  not  hear  all  of 
it  to  its  conclusion,  which  was  that  she  did  not  find  her 
husband,  and  that  she  never  saw  her  childien  until  she 
saw  their  dead  bodies  in  the  morgue.  No  evidence  was 
received  as  to  the  manner  of  the  death  of  the  children, 
or  who  caused  their  death,  if  they  had  been  killed,  but 
a  simple  statement  completing  the  story  of  his  decep- 
tion and  falsehood  practiced  upon  her,  without  in  any 
way  whatever  incriminating  him  in  their  murder,  if 
they  were  killed. 

Eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  reasons.  Much  of  what 
has  been  said  under  the  seventh  reason  applies  to 
these  reasons.  As  Mrs.  Pitezel's  story  was  clearly 
competent  evidence  in  the  case,  it  could  not  be  broken 
up  into  pieces  and  only  part  of  it  given.  The  effort  of 
the  defendant  to  drag  into  the  case  troubles  which 
Pitezel  had  in  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  had  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  case,  and  we  think  the  evi- 
dence was  properly  rejected. 

Eleventh  reason,  (a)  Puling  that  defendant's  wife 
was  a  competent  witness.  A  lady  named  Georgiana 
Yoke,  who  was  married  to  the  defendant  under  the 
name  of  Howard,  on  January  17th  1894,  was  called  as  a 
witness  to  testify  against  the  defendant.  It  was 
alleged  that,   at  that  time,   he  had  a  wife  living  at 


476  MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL. 

"Wilinette,  Illinois,  to  whom  tlie  agent  of  the  insurance 
Company  went  when  he  was  looking  for  the  defendant. 
The  agent  of  the  company  obtained  from  the  lady  who 
answered  to  the  name  of  Mrs.  Holmes  a  photograph  of 
herself,  with  a  babe  in  her  arms,  which  ai)pears  to  be 
from  three  to  six  months  old.  Shortly  thereafter,  the 
agent  of  the  company  received  a  letter  from  the  de- 
fendant, stating  that  he  wrote  it  in  consequence  of  the 
message  left  with  his  wife.  In  another  letter  from  the 
defendant  he  alluded  to  his  marriage  to  this  lady  in 
Illinois.  Upon  these  statements  made  by  the  defend- 
ant in  writing,  it  was  considered  that  tlie  marriage 
with  Miss  Yoke  was  null  and  void  ;  that  she  was  not  his 
wife;  and  consequently  she  was  permitted  to  testify 
against  him.  When  the  testimony  was  offered,  I  was 
inclined  to  believe  that  the  jury  were  to  pass  upon  the 
question  of  his  previous  marriage,  in  order  to  deter- 
mine the  competency  of  the  witness,  but  subsequent 
reflection,  led  me  to  the  opinion  that,  as  the  Judge  is 
the  trier  of  the  competency  of  the  witnesses  (Lyon  vs. 
Daniels,  12  Pa.  197)  the  matter  should  not  be  referred 
to  the  jury,  and  consequently  it  was  not  in  my  charge; 
but  I  quoted  her  testimony  to  the  jury  and  treated  it 
as  competent,  upon  my  judgment  that  the  marriage 
between  the  defendant  and  Miss  Yoke  was  absolutely 
null  and  void.  Second  marriages,  where  there  is  a 
former  husband  or  wife  living,  are  not  only  voidable, 
but  they  are  absolutely  void  ah  initio.  Thomas  vs. 
Thomas,  124  Pa.  646.  Divorces  are  not  granted  in  such 
cases,  but  decrees  of  nullity  of  marriage  may  be  ob- 
tained, according  to  the  forms  of  procedure  followed 
in  divorce  cases.  But  a  decree  of  nullity  is  not  es- 
sential, the  only  object  of  obtaining  a  decree  being  to 
make  certain,  positive,  and  record  evidence  of  the 
nullity  of  the  marriage. 

In  1st  Greenleaf  on  evidence,  Section  339,  it  is  said 
that,  "  On  a  trial  for  polygamy,  the  first  marriage  be- 
ing proved  and  not  controverted,  the  woman  with  whom 


MOTION  FOB   NEW  TRIAL.  477 

the  second  marriage  is  had  is  a  competent  witness,  for 
the  second  marriage  is  void."  .  .  .  "It  seems, 
however,  that  a  reputed  or  supposed  wife  may  be  ex- 
amined on  her  voir  dire,  as  to  facts  showing  the  in- 
validity of  the  marriage."  *  *  *  "Where  the  parties 
had  lived  together  as  man  and  wife,  believing  them- 
selves lawfully  married,  but  had  separated  on  discover- 
ing that  a  prior  husband  supposed  to  be  dead,  was  still 
living,  the  woman  was  held  a  competent  witness 
against  the  second  husband,  even  as  to  facts  communi- 
cated to  her  by  him  during  her  cohabitation." 

In  this  state,  it  was  decided  by  Judge  Pearson,  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Dauphin  County,  that  a 
party  to  a  second  marriage  is  a  competent  witness  to 
prove  its  illegality.    Shaak's  Estate,  4  Brewster,  305. 

In  the  present  case.  Miss  Yoke  testified  that,  after 
her  marriage,  the  defendant  talked  with  her  about  his 
first  wife,  who  lived  in  Gilmanton,  New  Hampshire, 
and  told  her  that  he  had  received  word  that  the  woman 
in  Gilmanton  was  dead.  At  the  argument,  the  District 
Attorney  produced  a  certified  copy  of  the  record  of  a 
proceeding  in  divorce  in  Cook  County,  Illinois,  by  Her- 
man W.  Mudgett  against  Clara  A.  Mudgett,  and  in  his 
petition  sworn  to  December  11th,  1886,  the  present  de- 
fendant swore  that  he  was  married  to  Clara  A.  Mudgett 
on  July  4th,  1878,  at  Alton,  New  Hampshire.  The  case 
was  dismissed  by  the  court  on  June  4th,  1891,  for  want 
of  prosecution.  As  the  competency  of  this  witness  was 
a  question  for  the  court,  the  production  of  this  record 
satisfies  me  that  he  was  not  only  married  to  the  lady 
in  Wilmette,  Illinois,  but  that  he  had  a  former  wife  liv- 
ing in  New  Hampshire  at  the  time  he  married  Miss 
Yoke,  and  consequently  the  marriage  with  her  was  null 
and  void. 

Proof  of  the  ceremony  of  marriage  in  such  cases  is 
not  necessary.  No  better  evidence  is  required  than  a 
man's  declaration  against  himself  in  a  question  involv- 
ing the  competency  of  a  putative  wife  to  testify  against 


478  3I0TI0N  FOB  NEW  TRIAL. 

him.  This  is  called  direct  proof,  and  is  as  effective  as 
proof  of  a  ceremony.  Heffner  vs.  Heffuer,  23  Penna. 
104;  Greeuawalt  vs.  McEnelley,  85  Penna.  352;  even  in 
criminal  cases  arit^iug  out  of  marriage  ;  Commonwealth 
vs.  Wyman,  3  P>rewster,  338;  2  Greenleaf  on  Evidence, 
section  461,  and  note. 

In  Forney  vs.  Hallaeher,  8  Sergeant  &  Eawle,  page 
159,  Judge  Gibson  decided  : — 

That,  "to  support  an  action  for  criminal  conversation 
there  must  be  an  actual  marriage,  but  it  is  quite  an- 
other thing  to  say  that  such  marriage  shall  be  proved 
only  by  the  oath  of  an  eyewitness  to  the  marriage 
ceremony.  We  at  once  feel  the  good  sense  of  the  rule 
that  excludes  the  mere  reputation  of  marriage  which 
always  arises  fi'om  the  declarations  or  ads  of  the  plain- 
tiff himself.  But  how  a  defendant's  unqualified  and 
positive  acknowledgment  of  the  marriage  in  fact  can 
be  excluded  on  any  principle  or  rule  of  evidence  I  am 
at  a  loss  to  discover." 

Inasmuch  as  the  defendant  had  in  writing  admitted 
that  the  lady  in  Wilmette  was  his  wife,  and  also  written 
about  his  marriage  to  her,  I  have  no  doubt  whatever 
that  his  declaration  against  himself  justified  me  in  con- 
sidering him  a  married  man  at  the  time  he  entered  into 
the  contract  with  Miss  Yoke,  and  therefore  that  she 
was  not  his  lawful  wife.  Consequently  she  was  a  com- 
petent witness  against  him,  and  as  such  she  was  prop- 
erly admitted. 

Eleven,  (b)  Allowing  evidence  of  the  whereabouts 
of  the  children  and  finding  their  dead  bodies  in  To- 
ronto. This  has  been  sufficiently  answered  in  the  con- 
sideration of  the  seventh,  eighth,  ninth  and  tenth  rea- 
sons. 

Eleven,  (c)  Permitting  jurors  to  enter  the  box  who 
upon  their  voir  dire  stated  that  they  had  formed  or  ex- 
pressed an  opinion  regarding  the  guilt  or  innocence  of 
the  defendant.    The  question  raised  by  this  reason  has 


MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL.  479 

been  so  often  considered  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  this 
State,  and  decided  in  favor  of  the  competency  of  such 
jurors,  that  it  would  be  a  work  of  supererogation  to 
cite  all  the  authorities  in  support  thereof. 

I  refer  to  Commonwealth  vs.  Crossmire,  156  Penna. 
304,  as  probably  the  latest  decision  on  the  subject.  No 
more  can  be  required  of  persons  called  as  jurors  than 
their  oath  that  they  can  decide  the  case  according  to 
the  evidence,  laying  aside  any  impression  they  may 
have  or  opinions  they  have  formed.  That  evidence 
may  be  required  to  change  their  opinion  does  not  mili- 
tate against  them  as  jurors,  for  it  is  manifest  that  with 
jurors  as  well  as  judges  evidence  is  required  to  change 
impressions  or  opinions.  There  was  no  talesman  re- 
ceived as  a  juror  who  did  not  come  clearly  within  the 
rule  laid  down,  and  was  not  entirely  competent  to  serve 
as  a  juror  according  to  all  the  law  on  that  subject.  The 
jury  was  an  uncommonly  intelligent  jury,  selected  by 
the  prisoner  himself,  who  seemed  disposed  to  reject  all 
who  were  untidy  and  unintelligent  in  appearance.  The 
defendant  certainly  had  twelve  intelligent  and  thought- 
ful men  to  decide  his  case.  They  were  selected  by  him- 
self, with  discretion  and  judgment.  They  were  un- 
biased by  fixed  immovable  opinions,  listened  atten- 
tively to  the  evidence,  and  rendered  a  verdict  accord- 
ing to  their  oaths  on  the  evidence  only. 

The  twelfth  reason  is  that  the  court  erred  in  charg- 
ing the  jury  by  giving  undue  prominence  to  the  evi- 
dence given  by  the  Commonwealth,  and  not  sufficient 
prominence  to  the  evidence  favorable  to  the  prisoner. 

The  statement  upon  which  this  reason  is  based  is  not 
true.  There  was  no  evidence  given  by  the  defense, 
and,  therefore,  nothing  of  that  character  for  the  judge 
to  call  to  the  attention  of  the  jury. 

In  the  argument  it  was  alleged  that  the  cross-ex- 
amination furnished  the  prisoner's  defense.  As  before 
said,  there  was  a  theory  advanced  that  Pitezel  com- 
mitted suicide ;  that  he  arranged  a  bottle  containing 


480  3I0TI0N  FOR  NEW  TRIAL. 

chloroform  and  attached  it  to  a  rubber  tube  with  a 
quill  outlet;  that  he  put  the  bottle  on  a  chair  beside 
him,  and  that  the  chloroform  ran  down  through  the 
tube  into  or  upon  a  cloth  on  his  mouth,  and  thus  pro- 
duced his  death,  but  there  was  no  evidence  that  such  a 
bottle  or  tube  was  found  in  the  house. 

Detective  Geyer  stated  that  the  defendand  told  him 
that  the  body  found  at  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street  was 
a  substituted  body  which  he  had  procured  from  a 
medical  friend  in  New  York,  and  brought  to  Phila- 
delphia in  a  trunk;  that  he  met  Pitezel  in  Philadelphia 
and  gave  him  the  check  for  the  trunk,  and  then  left  for 
the  West,  and  the  next  place  he  saw  Pitezel  was  in 
Detroit,  Michigan.  He  stated  that  he  told  Pitezel  how 
to  prepare  the  substituted  body,  by  laying  it  on  the 
floor,  placing  an  arm  across  its  breast,  pouriug  a  liquid 
iuto  the  stomach  and  then  setting  fire  to  it. 

Geyer  testified  in  a  subsequent  interview,  that  the 
defendant  told  him  that  the  story  about  there  being  a 
substituted  body  in  No.  1316  Callowhill  Street  was  not 
true,  and  that  the  body  found  there  was  really  the  body 
of  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel.  He  also  told  the  detective  that 
when  he  went  to  the  house  on  Sunday,  September  2, 
1894,  he  found  Pitezel  dead  on  the  third  story,  lying  on 
the  floor,  with  his  arm  across  his  breast,  with  a  bottle 
of  chloroform  on  a  chair  with  a  gum  hose  and  quill  at- 
tached to  it,  so  arranged  that  the  chloroform  would  fall 
on  a  piece  of  cloth  across  Pitezel's  mouth;  that  he 
found  a  note  which  told  him  to  look  in  a  bottle  in  a 
closet,  that  he  broke  the  bottle  and  found  a  note  in 
cipher  from  Pitezel,  which  told  him  that  Pitezel  was 
tired  of  life  and  had  committed  suicide  ;  that  he  found 
the  body  in  the  third  story  and  dragged  it  to  the  second 
story  back  room  and  placed  it  in  the  position  in  which 
it  was  found,  taking  a  bottle  of  liquid  and  placing  it 
alongside  the  head,  breaking  it,  lighting  a  pipe,  throw- 
ing the  pipe  on  the  floor,  lighting  matches  and  throw- 
ing them  down,  to  make  it  appear  as  though  an  ex- 


MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL.  481 

plosion  had  taken  place  there.  He  told  Captain  Linden, 
superintendent  of  police,  the  same  stories,  retracting 
the  first  before  telling  him  the  second.  The  testimony 
of  Detective  Geyer  and  of  Captain  Linden  on  this  sub- 
ject was  read  in  the  charge  to  the  jury. 

Tliat  the  first  story,  to  wit,  that  there  had  been  a 
substituted  body  placed  in  the  house,  was  false,  is 
proved  by  the  defendant's  own  admissions.  In  an  affi- 
davit made  before  the  Coroner  on  September  23,  1894, 
the  defendant  swore  that  he  learned  of  Pitezel's  death 
through  the  newspapers,  and  saw  and  identified  the 
body  at  the  City  Burial  Ground.  He  also  swore  that 
the  last  time  he  saw  Pitezel  alive  was  in  November, 
1893,  in  Chicago,  which  was  another  deliberate  false- 
hood. The  truthfulness  of  tiie  second  assertion,  to 
wit,  that  Pitezel  had  committed  suicide,  was  submitted 
to  the  jury  with  as  much  emphasis  as  any  other  part  of 
the  case.  A  repetition  in  detail  of  these  inconsistent 
stories  would  only  tend  to  bring  out  in  a  stronger  light 
the  untruthfulness  of  the  defendant,  and  his  utter  un- 
reliability. To  dwell  on  these  inconsistent  stories 
would  only  bear  so  much  the  harder  upon  the  defend- 
ant. The  condition  of  the  body  when  found,  to  wit,  a 
discharge  of  the  bowels  and  the  bladder,  which  the 
physicians  testified  generally  accompany  death,  and 
which  takes  place  at  or  immediately  before  dissolution, 
showed  that  Pitezel  was  not  killed  on  the  third  floor, 
but  on  the  second  floor,  where  he  was  found. 

There  was  evidence  in  the  case  which  proved  that 
the  defendant  was  furnishing  money  to  support  Pite- 
zel, that  Pitezel  was  addicted  to  the  use  of  liquor  to 
excess,  and  that  he  had  purchased  a  pint  of  whiskey 
the  night  before  the  day  on  which  he  was  killed.  It  is 
not  a  violent  presumption  to  infer  that  the  defendant 
found  Pitezel  under  the  influence  of  liquor  and  then 
resolved  upon  killing  him  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the 
burden  of  supporting  him  and  to  obtain  the  money 
from  ihe  insurance  company.  Confiimation  of  this 
28 


482  MOTION  FOB  NEW  TRIAL. 

may  be  found  in  a  question  put  by  the  defendant  to 
Dr.  Mattern  in  Avhich  the  defendant  aslced  the  doctor 
whether  he  was  prepared  to  give  a  professional  opinion 
as  to  the  effect  that  one-half  hour  before  Pitezel  died 
or  at  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  not  in  an  insensible 
condition  from  the  excessive  use  of  alcohol.  This  sug- 
gestive question,  like  several  other  questions  put  by 
the  defendant  to  witnesses,  indicates  his  knowledge  of 
Pitezel's  condition,  and  justified  the  inference  of  the 
jury  that  the  defendant  administered  the  chloroform 
to  Pitezel. 

Under  our  code  of  criminal  procedure  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  set  forth  in  the  indictment  or  prove  in  detail 
the  exact  manner  in  which  a  murder  has  been  com- 
mitted. If  it  were  it  would  be  impossible  in  many 
cases  to  furnish  such  proof,  and  therefore  many  guilty 
persons  would  escape. 

In  Twitchell's  case,  1  Brewster's  Eep.,  page  551,  the 
defendant  was  convicted  on  the  theory  tliat  he  killed 
his  mother-iu-law  by  striking  her  on  the  temple  with 
the  angle  of  a  poker.  After  Twitchell's  death  it  be- 
came generally  known  that  he  had  killed  his  victim 
with  a  sluDg-shot. 

In  Bell's  case,  164  Penna.  517,  the  defendant  was 
convicted  of  killing  his  victim  by  choking  her.  This 
was  inferred  from  well  defined  thumb  and  finger 
marks  on  the  neck  of  the  deceased. 

In  The  Commonwealth  vs.  Johnson,  162  Pa.  63,  the 
defendant  was  convicted  of  killing  his  own  child  by 
drowning  it.  There  were  no  marks  of  violence  on  the 
body,  which  was  not  found  until  six  days  after  the 
last  day  the  child  was  seen  alive. 

In  Crossmire's  case,  156  Penna.  305,  the  defendant 
was  convicted  of  strangling  the  deceased,  which  was 
the  opinion  of  a  medical  expert,  and  there  was  no  di- 
rect proof  as  to  the  manner  of  killing. 

In  Gray  vs.  The  Commonwealth,  ini  Pa.  380,  the  de- 
ceased was  last  seen  alive  on  February  20th,  1877.    On 


MOTION  FOB  NEW  TRIAL.  483 

April  4th,  1878,  or  nearly  fifteen  months  thereafter,  a 
human  skull  and  jawbone  were  found  in  the  river  near 
by.  The  skull  was  identified  as  the  skull  of  the  de- 
ceased. There  were  wounds  on  it  which  it  was  testi- 
fied were  sufficient  to  produce  death.  The  defendajit 
while  in  prison  for  another  ofTence,  admitted  to  a  fel- 
low prisoner  that  he  had  murdered  the  deceased  with  a 
hatchet.  The  defendant  was  convicted  and  executed, 
yet  there  were  no  eyewitnesses  to  the  murder. 

The  present  case  is  not  singular  by  any  means. 
There  is  much  similarity  between  it  and  Udderzook  vs. 
The  Commonwealth,  76  Penna.  340,  in  which  Chief 
Justice  Agnew  commenced  his  opinion  with  this 
phrase  :  "  This  is  indeed  a  strange  case,  a  combina- 
tion of  two  to  cheat  insurance  companies,  and  a  mur- 
der of  one  by  the  other  to  reap  the  fruit  of  the  fraud." 

In  that  case  the  murdered  man  was  supposed  to 
have  been  burned  in  his  shop  on  February  2d,  1872. 
On  July  1st,  1873,  which  was  seventeen  months  after- 
wards, the  prisoner  and  the  man  who  was  supposed  to 
have  been  burned  were  seen  together.  On  July  9th, 
1873,  a  man  travelling  on  the  turnpike  observed  buz- 
zards in  the  woods,  and  smelled  a  very  unpleasant 
odor.  Obtaining  aid,  he  uncovered  the  earth  and 
leaves  around  the  place,  and  found  the  body  of  a  man, 
with  the  legs  and  arms  cut  off,  and  hidden  sixty-five 
feet  away.  This  body  was  subsequently  identified  as 
the  man  who  was  supposed  to  have  been  burned.  The 
defendant  was  indicted,  convicted  and  executed  upon 
circumstantial  evidence.  There  was  no  proof  as  to  the 
manner  of  killing.  The  deceased,  like  Pitezel,  had  an 
alias  name,  was  in  the  habit  of  drinking  to  excess,  and 
his  clothing  was  found  burned  in  the  woods  like  Pite- 
zel's  was  in  the  house. 

In  the  present  case,  as  in  the  cases  above  referred  to 
as  examples  of  kindred  cases,  there  was  no  eyewitness 
to  the  crime.  The  defendant  was  convicted  on  what  is 
called  circumstantial  evidence;  that  is  to  say,  a  sue- 


484  MOTION  FOB  NEW  TRIAL. 

cession  of  circumstances  tending  irresistibly  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  defendant  killed  and  murdered  the 
deceased,  as  charged  in  the  bill  of  indict uient.  That 
condition  of  his  victim,  that  is,  whether  he  was  aslerp 
or  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  is  a  matter  not  only 
difficult  of  proof,  but  entirely  unnecessary.  The  maiu 
question  was  whether  Pitezel  had  been  killed,  and,  if 
killed,  whether  by  himself  or  the  defendant.  The  jury 
found  that  the  defendant  killed  Pitezel,  on  evidence 
which  was  as  convincing  as  human  evidence  can  be 
made. 

The  thirteenth  reason  is  that  the  Court  erred  in 
charging  the  jury  as  follows:  "You  will  notice  by  the 
testimony  which  w-as  read  to  you  that  the  doctors  who 
examined  him  say  his  death  was  caused  by  chloroform 
poisoning,  and  that  it  could  not  have  been  self-admin- 
istered. Now  if  it  was  not  self-administered  who  w;is 
it  administered  the  poison  to  him  ?  Who  poisoned 
him  and  who  took  his  life  ?  " 

Exactly  what  error  appears  in  this  reason  I  confess 
myself  unable  to  see.  It  was  simply  a  submission  to 
the  jury  of  the  question  they  were  sworn  to  try,  which 
was  whether  the  defendant  killed  Pitezel,  without  in  any 
manner  whatever  indicating  any  opinion  on  the  subject. 

The  fourteenth  reason  is  that  the  court  erred  in 
charging  the  jury  as  follows:  "If  you  are  not  fairly 
satisfied  with  the  evidence  of  his  guilt  he  is  entitled 
to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt." 

It  has  been  so  often  said  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
cite  authorities  to  prove  it,  that  a  charge  is  to  be  con- 
sidered as  a  whole  and  not  by  selecting  sentences  and 
criticising  them  by  themselves.  If  it  is  not  proper  to 
select  sentences  apart  from  the  entire  context,  how 
much  more  important  is  it  that  parts  of  sentences 
should  not  be  separated  and  alleged  as  error. 

The  sentence  from  which  the  above  is  taken  is  to  be 
found  in  that  part  of  my  charge  in  which  I  was  treat- 
ing of  the  question  of  doubt,  wJiich  was  fully  and  era- 


MOTION  FOR   NEW  TRIAL.  485 

phatically  laid  before  the  jurj\  The  entire  sentence 
as  found  iu  the  charge  is  as  follows  : 

"If,  after  considering  the  testimony,  you  are  unable 
to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  is  guilty,  there  is 
a  doubt  about  it  and  you  hesitate,  or,  iu  other  words, 
if  you  are  not  fairly  satisfied  by  the  evidence,  of  his 
guilt,  he  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  and 
should  be  acquitted  for  that  reason." 

The  counsel  for  defendant  omitted  the  first,  as  well 
as  the  last  and  most  important  part  of  this  sentence, 
to  wit:  "That  if  the  jury  are  not  fairly  satisfied  by 
the  evidence  of  the  guilt,  he  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of 
the  doubt  and  should  be  acquitted."  The  word 
"  fairly,"  when  used  in  connection  with  the  measure  of 
proof  required  as  a  defense  has  been  held  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  to  be  the  proper  word  to  use  in  such  cases. 
Commonwealth  vs.  Bezek,  168  Pa.  603,  is  the  last  case  on 
this  subject.  It  is  true  that  the  word  was  used  in  con- 
nection with  the  proof  offered  by  the  defendant  as  to 
his  insanity,  and  the  Supreme  Court  said  that  the  de- 
fendant was  bound  to  satisfy  the  jury  by  fairly  pre- 
ponderating evidence,  while  to  hold  him  to  proof  by 
clearly  preponderating  evidence  was  to  hold  him  to  too 
strict  a  burden ;  in  other  words,  that  the  rule  is  that 
the  defendant's  proof  should,  like  the  Commonwealth's 
proof,  be  of  a  character  that  will  fairly  satisfy  the  jury 
of  the  matters  attempted  to  be  proved. 

The  word  "fairly"  was  not  the  only  word  used  in 
this  connection.  In  the  next  sentence,  the  jtiry  were 
told  that  if  upon  a  consideration  of  the  entire  evidence, 
they  were  firmly  convinced  of  the  defendant's  guilt, 
then  it  is  a  case  of  murder  as  charged ;  and  in  answer 
to  defendant's  fifth  point,  the  jury  were  told  that  un- 
less they  were  thoroughly  satisfied  with  the  evidence 
that  the  defendant  is  guilty,  he  cannot  be  convicted. 

In  Turney  vs.  The  Commonwealth,  86  Pa.  54,  it  was 
held  that,  "A  conviction  can  be  had  only  after  the 
jury  have  been  convinced  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt 


486  3I0TI0N  FOR   NEW  TRIAL. 

of  the  defendant's  guilt."  There  no  qualifying  adverb 
WHS  used.  The  jury  must  be  convinced  or  satisfied 
by  the  evidence. 

Having  in  view  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court 
in  which  this  subject  has  been  considered  of  late  years, 
I  used  the  word  "  fairly  "  because  it  is  the  jjroper 
adverb  to  be  used  in  that  connection. 

The  fifteenth  reason  is  that  the  court  erred  in  not 
affirming  points  No.  3  and  No.  6  submitted  by  the  de- 
fendant. 

These  points  were  based  upon  the  theory  that  Pitezel 
committed  suicide,  and  asked  the  Judge  to  decide  as  a 
matter  of  law  that  the  evidence  does  not  establish  beyond 
a  reasonable  doubt  the  commission  of  the  crime  alleged. 

These  points  were  refused,  and  the  question  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  jury  upon  the  evidence  to  find  whether 
Pitezel  had  been  murdered  by  the  defendant  or  com- 
mitted suicide. 

As  to  the  question  of  doubt,  that  is  a  condition  of  the 
minds  of  the  jurors  after  they  have  heard  the  testimony. 
It  is  not  for  the  Judge  to  say  that  there  cannot  be  a 
conviction  for  murder,  because  it  was  possible  that 
Pitezel  killed  himself.  In  every  case  of  murder  such 
possibilities  may  exist.  A  man  who  is  shot  may  have 
died  from  heart  disease  caused  by  the  fright  of  being 
chased  by  another  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand.  A  man 
who  is  struck  with  a  club  may  not  receive  his  death  in 
consequence  of  that  blow,  but  may  strike  his  head 
upon  a  stone  and  thereby  come  to  his  death.  But  in 
all  cases,  and  especially  in  a  case  like  the  present, 
where  the  evidence  tended  unmistakably  to  prove  the 
willful,  deliberate,  and  premeditated  killing  by  the  de- 
fendant, the  mere  theory  of  his  counsel  that  the  de- 
ceased committed  suicide,  without  any  evidence  what- 
ever to  sustain  the  theory,  does  not  create  a  legal 
doubt,  such  as  to  require  the  Judge  to  decide  the 
question  as  one  of  law.  The  case  is  for  the  jury,  and 
to  the  jury  it  was  submitted. 


MOTION  FOR  NEW  TRIAL.  487 

If  a  mere  theory  without  evidence  is  to  prevail  over 
facts  alleged  by  the  commonwealth  and  proved  by  evi- 
dence, tending  irrisistibl}'  to  but  one  conclusion,  then 
it  will  be  impossible  to  convict  anyone  of  crime  except 
by  the  proof  of  eyewitnesses ;  and  not  even  then  if  cun- 
ning devices  such  as  were  resorted  to  in  this  case  shall 
be  set  up  as  probable  truths  and  accepted  as  positive 
facts,  to  be  declared  and  enforced  by  the  Judge,  to  the 
exclusion  of  every  other  possibility. 

Upon  the  whole  case,  we  are  convinced  that  the  com- 
monwealth proved  such  a  chain  of  circumstances  as 
lead  irrislstibly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  defendant 
did  kill  and  murder  Benjamin  F.  Pitezel  on  September 
2d,  1894,  as  charged  in  the  bill  of  indictment;  that  Pite- 
zel was  killed  by  chloroform  poisoning  administered  by 
the  defendant ;  and  whether  Pitezel  was  asleep  or  under 
the  influence  of  liquor  at  the  time  the  chloroform  was 
administered  is  not  important.  The  theory  advanced 
by  the  defendant,  and  argued  by  his  counsel  to  the 
jury,  that  Pitezel  committed  suicide,  and  that  the 
defendant  arranged  his  body  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  make  the  death  appear  to  have  been  the  con- 
sequence of  an  explosion,  has  no  substantial  evi- 
dence upon  which  it  can  be  based.  An  act  of  that 
kind  would  require  coolness  and  deliberation,  whereas 
the  testimony  shows  that  the  defendant,  immedi- 
ately after  he  had  left  Pitezel,  was  excited,  nervous 
and  worried,  and  his  underclothing  was  wet  with  per- 
spiration. This  was  the  condition  of  a  man  who  had 
committed  a  great  crime,  rather  than  one  who  was  try- 
ing to  conceal  the  evidence  of  a  suicide.  The  defend- 
ant's flight  must  not  be  overlooked  in  this  case.  If 
Pitezel  had  committed  suicide,  and  the  defendant 
simply  tried  to  conceal  the  suicide,  it  is  not  probable 
that  he  would  have  fled  from  the  city.  Flight  is  the 
act  of  a  guilty  man,  and  not  the  act  of  a  cunning  man. 
Being  firmly  convinced  of  the  guilt  of  the  defendant, 
we  approve  the  verdict  and  refuse  a  new  trial. 


APPENDIX  III. 

THE  DECISION   OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

This  is  a  voluminous  record.  An  examination  of  it 
shows  tliat  the  trial  of  the  defendant  furnished  some 
unloolied  for  situations  and  dramatic  incidents,  but  no 
one  of  them  seems  to  have  been  the  result  of  anything 
irregular  or  sensational  in  the  manner  or  rulings  of  the 
learned  trial  Judge.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  apparent 
that  they  were  due  to  the  extraordinary  character  of 
the  circumstances  with  which  the  defendant  had  sur- 
rounded himself,  and  to  his  interference  with  the  usual 
methods  of  trial.  Indeed,  the  assignments  of  error, 
although  thirteen  in  number,  have  been  intended  to 
raise  no  questions  except  such  as  may  be  characterized 
as  general  questions  of  law,  and  they  have  been  pre- 
sented in  this  Court  and  discussed  in  the  oral  argu- 
ment in  a  thoroughly  lawyer-like  manner  and  with  de- 
cided ability.  We  proceed  to  consider  them  in  their 
order. 

The  first,  second,  third  and  fourth  assignments  re- 
late to  the  admissibility  of  the  testimony  of  Georgianna 
Yoke  who  was  called  as  a  witness  by  the  Common- 
wealth and  whom  the  defendant  alleged  to  be  his  law- 
ful wife.  At  the  time  this  witness  was  called  there  was 
evidence  before  the  Court  showing  that  the  defendant 
had  an  establishment  of  some  sort  at  Willmette  in  the 
State  of  Illinois  which  was  known,  at  least  to  some  of 
his  acquaintances,  as  his  home,  where  as  H.  H.  Holmes 
he  lived  with  a  woman  who  was  understood  to  be  his 
wife.  The  evidence  further  showed  that  a  letter  which 
had  been  left  at  this  establishment  with  this  woman  in 
his  absence  by  the  witness  Cass,  had  been  promptly 

(489) 


490      THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

replied  to  by  H.  H.  Holmes;  and  that  in  the  answer  he 
referred  to  this  woman  as  his  wife  saying,  "I  am  in 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  mj'  wife  stating  that  you  called 
on  her  in  regard  to  Mr.  Pitezel.  She  also  enclosed  me 
clipping  from  paper  which  I  presume  you  gave  her." 
All  this  evidence  tending  to  show  that  the  prisoner 
was  a  married  man,  and  that  his  wife  lived  in  Illinois 
and  was  known  as  Mrs.  Holmes,  wtis  before  the  Court 
when  Georgianua  Yoke  was  called.  There  was  noth- 
ing in  the  name  of  the  witness  and  there  was  nothing 
in  her  testimony  when  she  was  first  on  the  stand  to 
suggest  that  she  was  the  wife  of  the  prisoner,  or  to 
throw  any  doubt  upon  his  being,  as  he  appeared  to  be 
at  that  stage  of  the  evidence,  the  husband  of  the 
woman  of  whom  he  had  written  as  his  wife. 

An  objection  to  her  competency  taken  when  she  was 
first  called  and  examined  would  have  had  nothing  on 
which  to  rest.  At  a  later  stage  of  the  trial  she  was  re- 
called by  the  defendant  and  examined  upon  this  sub- 
ject. She  then  stated  that  she  had  been  married  to 
the  prisoner  by  a  clergyman  in  the  city  of  Denver  in 
January,  1894: ;  that  his  name  was  then  Howard,  and 
that  she  was  married  to  him  by  that  name.  She  stated 
further  that,  during  much  of  the  time  between  January 
and  the  following  November,  she  had  lived  with  him 
as  his  wife  supposing  that  she  occupied  that  position 
towards  him,  but  that  she  had  learned  before  his  ar- 
rest that  he  had  been  married  some  time  previously  to 
a  woman  living  in  Gilmanton,  N.  H.,  whom  she  under- 
stood to  be  still  living.  She  had  heard  still  earlier  of 
the  woman  at  Willmette,  but  did  not  understand  that 
Howard  had  been  lawfully  married  to  her.  She  had 
talked  with  him  about  the  woman  at  Gilmanton  while 
they  were  at  Boston,  not  long  before  his  arrest.  His 
sister  had  told  her  that  the  prisoner  had  accounted  for 
having  married  her  while  his  wife  was  living  at  Gil- 
manton by  telling  his  father's  family  that  he  had  been 
seriously  injured  in  a  railroad  wreck;  that  she  (Miss 


THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT.      491 

Yoke)  had  nursed  him  and  had  been  instrumental  in 
saving  his  mind,  but  had  married  him  before  he  linew 
where  he  was  or  what  he  was  doing.  This  story  she 
told  the  prisoner.  He  did  not  deny  or  explain  the 
story,  but  said  in  his  own  defence  that  when  he  mar- 
ried lier  he  had  been  told  that  the  woman  at  Gil  man- 
ton  was  dead.  The  witness  was  apparently  satisfied 
that  her  marriage  was  not  valid,  and  she  had  resumed 
the  use  of  her  maiden  name. 

As  she  was  competent,  prime  facie,  when  called  and 
examined,  the  burden  of  showing  her  incompetency 
was  on  the  prisoner  who  alleged  it.  The  testimony  of 
Miss  Yoke,  to  which  we  have  just  referred,  was  given 
for  that  purpose,  and  it  was  all  the  evidence  upon  that 
subject.  The  fair  effect  of  it  was  to  show  that  no  legal 
marriage  had  taken  place,  that  Miss  Yoke  had  been 
cruelly  deceived,  and  that  the  legal  wife  of  the  prisoner 
lived  at  Gilmauton,  N.  H.  Let  us  grant  that  if  the  de- 
fendant had  been  on  trial  for  bigamy  the  testimony  of 
Miss  Yoke  might  not  have  been  sufficiently  definite  as 
to  the  fact  of  the  first  marriage  to  justify  a  conviction 
of  the  <lefendant,  yet  we  must  remember  that,  so  far  as 
the  competency  of  the  witness  was  concerned,  the  bur- 
den of  proof  was  not  on  the  Commonwealth.  She  was 
apparently  competent.  The  burden  of  establishing 
her  incompetency  by  proof  of  a  lawful  marriage  be- 
tween himself  and  her  was  on  him  who  alleged  it.  The 
learned  Judge  would  have  been  justified  in  doing 
what  the  prisoner's  counsel  complain  that  he  did  not, 
viz:  treat  this  question  of  competency  as  a  question 
of  law,  and  overrule  the  objection  to  her  testimony  at 
once.  What  he  did  was  more  favorable  to  the  prisoner 
than  he  had  a  right  to  ask.  He  submitted  the  ques- 
tion of  the  legality  of  the  marriage  to  the  jury,  in- 
structing them  that,  if  they  found  it  to  be  valid,  they 
should  reject  the  testimony  of  the  witness  altogether. 
We  do  not  see  how  the  prisoner  can  expect  success- 
fully to  complain  of  a  ruling  that  gave  him  one  more 


492      THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPKE3IE   COURT. 

chance  for  a  favorable  decision  upon  tlie  question  of 
the  competency  of  tlie  witness  than  he  had  a  right  to 
aslf. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  assignments  are  in  effect  but  a 
different  mode  of  raising  the  question  we  have  just  con- 
sidered. They  complain  of  the  submission  of  the  testi- 
mony of  Miss  Yoke  to  the  jury.  She  had  been  exam- 
ined very  fully  as  to  the  movements  of  the  prisoner  on 
that  Sunday  on  which  he  had  stated  to  Mr.  Linden, 
Superintendent  of  Police,  that  ho  saw  and  arranged  the 
dead  body  of  Pitezel  in  the  Callowhill  Street  house. 
This  evidence  the  learned  Judge  referred  to  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  jury.  It  is  not  suggested  that  her  evi- 
dence is  not  fairly  repeated,  nor  that  any  statement  is 
attributed  by  the  Court  to  her  that  she  did  not  make. 
The  burden  of  the  assignment  of  error  must  therefore 
be  that  the  testimony  was  treated  by  the  learned  Judge 
as  competent  and  as  properly  before  the  jury.  This 
was  not  an  error  for  the  reasons  given  when  treating 
of  the  question  of  the  competency  of  the  witness,  and 
we  do  not  see  that  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  action 
of  the  learned  Judge  in  submitting  that  question  to  the 
jury,  since  it  was  necessary,  at  least  provisionally,  to 
call  their  attention  to  the  effect  of  the  testimony  and 
the  questions  to  which  it  was  related.  These  assign- 
ments are  therefore  overruled. 

The  thirteenth  assignment  should  be  considered  in 
this  connection,  as  it  is  directed  against  the  action  of 
the  Court  in  submitting  to  the  jury  the  question  of  the 
existence  of  a  legal  marriage  between  the  prisoner  and 
Miss  Yoke  at  the  time  she  was  called  as  a  witness,  and 
the  direction  to  them  to  consider,  or  to  exclude  from 
consideration,  her  testimony  as  they  might  find  upon 
that  question.  We  have  already  said  that  while  the 
submission 'of  the  question  might  not  have  been  neces- 
sary, we  cannot  see  that  it  did  the  prisoner  any  harm. 
The  verdict  undoubtedly  shows  that  the  jury  decided 
this  question  against  the  prisoner,  but  so  we  think  the- 


THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPRE3IE  COURT.      493 

learned  Judge  should  have  done  if  he  had  undertuken 
to  pronounce  upon  the  effect  of  Miss  Yoke's  testimony 
iu  regard  to  the  legality  of  her  marriage  to  the  pris- 
oner. The  prisoner  cannot  complain  that  he  should  be 
taken  at  his  word  upon  this  question  ;  and  the  story 
told  by  him  to  his  father's  family,  which  Miss  Yoke 
afterwards  called  to  his  attention  and  his  excuse  made 
to  her  for  marrying  her  while  he  had  a  wife  living  at 
Gilmanton,  are  enough  to  discredit  the  alleged  mar- 
riage. We  do  not  see  how  the  jury  or  the  Court  could 
have  done  otherwise  than  say  that  the  prisoner  had  not 
successfully  shown  the  witness  to  be  incompetent;  and 
whether  the  Court  had  disposed  of  the  question  in  the 
first  instance  by  an  instruction,  or  allowed  the  jury  to 
dispose  of  it  without  any  controlling  direction  upon  the 
subject,  the  prisoner  had  no  ground  for  complaint. 

The  twelfth  assignment  is  to  the  refusal  by  the  learned 
Judge  to  allow  an  exception  to  the  opening  address  of 
the  District  Attorney,  As  we  understand  the  situation, 
the  objection  to  the  opening  address  was  not  made  at 
the  time  of  its  delirery,  but  several  days  later,  near  the 
close  of  the  trial.  The  District  Attorney  had  in  his 
opening  stated  the  case  of  the  Commonwealth.  He  had 
detailed  in  their  order  the  incidents  connecting  the 
prisoner  with  Pitezel,  with  the  procurement  of  the  policy 
of  insurance  on  his  life,  with  his  subsequent  death,  the 
identification  of  the  body,  the  absorption  of  the  insur- 
ance money  by  the  prisoner  and  his  subsequent  move- 
ments. He  called  attention  to  the  part  taken  by  Alice 
iu  the  identification  of  her  father's  body,  and  to  the 
fact  that  she  was  kept  thereafter  from  a  meeting  with 
her  mother  whom  the  prisoner  had  led  to  believe  that 
her  husband  was  still  alive.  He  then  spoke  of  the  re- 
markable journeys  upon  which  Alice  and  her  brother 
and  sister  were  moved  in  one  group,  Mrs,  Pitezel 
and  her  other  children  in  another,  and  Georgianna 
Yoke  by  herself  or  in  company  with  the^prisoner  in  a 
third.     He  told  how  they  went  from  place  to  place,  near 


494      THE  DECISION  OF  THE  8UFBE3IE   COURT. 

to  each  other,  were  housed  at  the  same  time  in  the  same 
city,  but  always  without  meeting,  until  one  by  one  the 
three  members  of  one  group  disappeared.  He  then 
spoke  of  the  finding  of  their  remains,  and  of  the  power- 
ful array  of  circumstances  connecting  the  prisoner  with 
their  death,  and  the  disposition  of  their  bodies. 

The  theory  of  the  Commonwealth  was  that  the  motive 
for  the  killing  of  Pitezel  was  to  secure  the  insurance 
money;  and  the  killing  of  Alice  and  the  two  children 
who  were  with  him  grew  out  of  his  desire  to  prevent 
Mrs.  Pitezel  from  knowing  of  the  death  of  her  husband, 
and  of  her  consequent  right  to  the  insurance  money. 
The  several  homicides  were  thus  alleged  to  be  con- 
nected, to  have  a  common  motive  and  to  form  parts  of 
one  general  plan.  In  opening  his  case  it  was  natural 
for  the  District  Attorney  to  state,  indeed  it  was  his  duty 
towards  the  prisoner,  to  state  fully  what  he  intended 
to  offer  for  the  consideration  of  the  jury  bearing  upon 
his  guilt.  This  he  did  do,  and,  so  far  as  we  are  advised, 
without  objection  from  the  Court  or  the  prisonei*. 

The  trial  proceeded  upon  the  lines  indicated  in  the 
opening,  until  the  subject  of  the  disappearance  and 
murder  of  the  children  was  reached.  An  objection  was 
interposed  by  the  prisoner's  counsel  on  the  ground  that 
the  evidence  offered  was  intended  to  show  the  commis- 
sion of  an  independent  crime  not  charged  in  the  indict- 
ment. After  some  consideration  the  objection  was  sus- 
tained by  the  learned  Judge  and  the  evidence  excluded. 

Then,  as  we  understand  the  course  of  the  trial,  and 
not  until  then,  the  application  was  made  for  leave  to 
except  to  so  much  of  the  opening  address  of  the  Dis- 
trict Attorney  as  related  to  the  excluded  evidence. 
The  learned  Judge  well  said,  in  answer  to  this  request, 
that  there  was  no  method  by  which  an  exception  could 
be  sealed  by  the  Court  to  statements  in  the  address  of 
an  attorney,  days  after  they  had  been  made ;  and  that, 
if  any  statement  made  by  the  District  Attorney  had 
been  deemed  objectionable,  the  attention  of  the  Court 


THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT.      495 

should  have  been  called  to  it  at  the  time  when  it  was 
made,  and  when  its  correction  was  possible.  To  this 
we  are  disposed  to  add  another  consideration  —  viz, 
that  such  a  practice  would  require  the  trial  Judge  to 
anticipate  the  course  of  the  trial  and  decide  upon  the 
admissibility  of  evidence  in  advance  of  its  being  of- 
fered. 

We  have  no  doubt  of  the  power,  nor  in  a  proper  case 
of  the  duty,  of  the  Court  to  supervise  the  addresses  of 
counsel  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  protect  prisoners 
or  parties  litigant  from  injurious  misrepresentations 
and  unfair  attack,  and  the  jury  from  being  misled. 
When  this  power  should  be  exercised  must  be  left  to 
the  sound  discretion  of  tlie  Judge,  and  he  should  not 
hesitate  to  act  where  the  fair  administration  of  justice 
requires  him  to  do  so. 

But  there  was  nothing  in  the  addiess  of  the  District 
Attorney  in  the  opening  of  the  case  of  the  Common- 
wealth that  either  the  defendant's  counsel  or  the  Court 
seemed  at  the  time  to  think  required  the  exercise  of 
this  discretionary  power.  The  subsequent  action  of 
the  Court  in  rejecting  a  part  of  the  case  of  the  Com- 
monwealth did  not  have  a  retroactive  effect  upon  the 
opening  address. 

It  is  probable  that  the  learned  Judge  entertained 
some  doubt  about  the  admissibility  of  this  evidence 
and  gave,  as  he  should  always  do,  the  benefit  of  his 
doubt  to  the  prisoner.  But  if  he  had  admitted  it,  we 
are  not  prepared  to  say  it  would  have  been  error.  As- 
suming the  correctness  of  the  theory  of  the  Common- 
wealth, the  evidence  was  admissible  under  the  author- 
ity of  a  line  of  cases,  among  which  are  Turner  vs.  the 
Commonwealth,  8G  Pa.  54;  Kramer  vs.  the  Common- 
wealth, 87  Pa.  299;  Commonwealth  vs.  Goerson,  99  Pa. 
398,  and  the  Commonwealth  vs.  Bell,  166  Pa.  405.  But 
the  decision  of  this  question  is  not  necessarily  involved. 
It  is  enough  for  the  purposes  of  this  case  to  dispose  of 
the  question  raised  by  the  assignment  and  hold  that 


496      THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

there  was  no  error  in  refusing  the  request  for  an  ex- 
ception to  the  address  of  the  District  Attorney  made 
several  days  after  the  address  liad  been  completed. 

Tlie  next  question,  following  the  natural  order  of  the 
assignments,  is  that  raised  by  the  eighth.  It  relates 
to  the  admission  of  the  story  told  by  Mrs.  Pitezel 
about  the  manner  in  which  she  saw  and  recognized  the 
remains  of  three  of  her  children  within  a  few  weeks 
after  the  death  of  her  husband.  This  was  part  of  the 
general  story  of  her  search  after  her  husband,  whom 
she  supposed  to  be  still  alive,  and  the  three  children, 
who  were  kept  just  a  little  ways  ahead  of  her  until,  one 
by  one,  they  had  disappeared.  The  search  was  made 
under  the  control  and  direction  of  the  prisoner.  She 
followed  on  where  he  promised  her  husband  would 
come  and  her  children  would  meet  her.  During  all 
this  time  he  knew  her  husband  was  sleeping  in  the 
Potter's  Field.  He  knew  that  first  the  boy  and  then 
Alice  and  her  sister  had  gone  out  of  sight  while  under 
his  general  care  and  their  bodies  had  been  mutilated 
or  concealed.  She  saw  them,  or  their  remains,  at  last. 
When  and  how  she  saw  them  she  was  allowed  to  state, 
and  to  that  extent,  at  least,  it  was  competent  for  her  to 
speak  of  her  children  regardless  of  the  question  raised 
by  the  assignment  of  error  last  considered.  The  whole 
story  of  Mrs.  Pitezel  has  a  unity  of  character,  and  its 
incidents  are  so  affected  by  the  prisoner's  acts  and  dec- 
larations in  regard  to  her  husband  and  his  where- 
abouts, that  we  do  not  see  any  reason  for  rejecting  as 
irrelevant  any  portion  of  it.  We  think  also  that  it  had 
a  direct  bearing  upon  the  question  of  motive.  At 
least  it  was  for  the  jury  to  say  from  it  whether  the  per- 
sistent concealment  of  Pitezel's  death  from  his  wife 
and  his  representations  to  her  that  the  insurance 
money  had  been  obtained  by  fraud  were  not  induced 
by  his  desire  to  escape  litigation  over  the  money  and 
to  avoid  the  suspicion  of  murder  being  started  against 
him  in  her  mind. 


THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPBE3IE  COURT.      497 

The  ninth  assignment  is  directed  towards  a  state- 
ment made  by  the  learned  Judge  in  his  charge  to  the 
jury.  Speaking  of  the  death  of  Pitezel,  he  said :  "  You 
will  notice  by  the  testimony  which  was  read  to  you 
that  the  doctors  who  examined  him  say  his  death  was 
caused  by  chloroform  poisoning,  and  that  it  could  not 
have  been  self-administered."  This,  it  is  alleged,  was 
wholly  unwarranted  by  the  evidence.  As  to  the  first 
part  of  this  statement  there  could  be  no  complaint,  for 
the  fact  that  the  deceased  came  to  his  death  by  chloro- 
form poisoning  was  practically  conceded  by  the  pris- 
oner. The  contest  was  over  the  question  whether  the 
poison  from  which  he  died  was  self-administered  and 
his  death  was  due  to  suicide,  or  was  feloniously  ad- 
ministered by  the  prisoner  and  his  death  due  to  mur- 
der. 

In  the  interview  which  was  testified  to  by  E.  J.  Lin- 
den, Superintendent  of  Police,  the  prisoner  gave  his 
own  account  of  Pitezel's  death.  He  found  him,  as  he 
alleged,  on  the  floor  of  a  third-story  room  in  the  Cal- 
lowhill  Street  house,  dead.  He  said  he  was  led  to  the 
third  floor  by  a  note  left  for  him  on  the  table  in  the 
front  room  on  the  first  floor,  directing  him  to  search 
for  a  letter  in  a  bottle  in  a  closet  opening  off  the  same 
room.  In  the  bottle,  he  says,  he  found  a  long  letter 
telling  of  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  commit  suicide, 
and  that  his  body  would  be  found  on  the  third  floor. 
Going  to  that  floor  he  alleges  he  found  Pitezel,  dead. 
A  large  bottle  with  the  chloroform  stood  near  by,  and 
leading  from  it  to  the  dead  man's  mouth  was  a  tube 
with  a  quill  inserted  in  it  so  as  to  reduce  the  aperture 
for  the  flow  of  the  fluid. 

He  says  he  felt  that  the  appearances  of  suicide  should 
be  removed  or  a  defence  might  be  made  to  the  policy 
upon  that  ground.  To  do  this  he  dragged  the  body 
down  to  the  second  floor,  broke  the  bottle,  scattered 
some  inflammable  liquid  over  the  face  and  beard  of  the 
dead  man  and  set  it  on  fire  to  give  to  the  body  and  the 
2^ 


498      THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

room  the  appearance  of  an  explosion  and  the  happen- 
ing of  death  by  accident. 

The  theory  of  the  defence  included,  therefore,  the 
idea  that  Pitezel's  death  was  due  to  chloroform  poison- 
ing, and  the  objection  must  relate,  therefore,  only  to 
the  statement  that  the  doctors  had  testified  that  the 
poison  could  not  have  been  self-administered.  The 
post  mortem  examination  had  disclosed  the  presence 
of  an  ounce  and  a  half  of  chloroform  in  the  stomach  at 
that  time.  How  did  it  get  there  ?  As  the  story  of  the 
prisoner  indicated,  by  a  slow  process  of  self-adminis- 
tration by  means  of  the  tube,  or  in  some  other  manner? 
Upon  this  subject  medical  experts  were  called.  They 
explained  the  effects  of  the  drug  upon  the  nerves  and 
brain,  and  upon  the  lining  of  a  living  stomach.  They 
gave  two  reasons  why  the  chloroform  could  not  have 
been  self-administered  in  the  manner  alleged  by  the 
prisoner.  In  the  first  the  intoxicating  quality  of  the 
drug  would  cause  such  semi-conscious  or  purely  invol- 
untary motions  of  the  muscles,  and  changes  in  the  po- 
sition of  head  and  body,  as  would  break  the  connec- 
tion between  the  bottle  and  the  mouth  by  means  of  the 
alleged  tube.  In  the  next  place  the  chloroform  had 
not  affected  the  lining  of  the  stomach,  in  other  words, 
it  had  been  introduced  into  the  stomach  after  death. 
This  testimony  fully  justified  the  statement  of  the 
learned  Judge  now  complained  of,  and  the  assignment 
of  error  is  overruled. 

The  eleventh  assignment  alleges  error  in  the  answer 
to  a  point  submitted  on  behalf  of  the  prisoner.  The 
instruction  asked  by  the  point  was  somewhat  involved. 
It  was  in  substance  a  request  for  an  instruction  that, 
if  the  jury  should  believe  the  deceased  died  from 
chloroform  poisoning,  and  that  it  was  possible  for  him 
to  have  administered  it  to  himself,  and  that  this  theory 
was  as  consistent  with  the  facts  in  the  case,  as  that  it 
was  administered  with  criminal  intent  by  the  prisoner, 
then  the  verdict  should  be  not  guilty.    This  was  an- 


THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT      499 

other  way  of  saying  that  if  the  theory  of  suicide  was  as 
consistent  with  the  facts  as  the  theory  of  murder,  then 
tlie  prisoner  should  be  acquitted,  and  it  might  have 
been  affirmed  without  more.  The  answer,  though  not 
categorical,  was  in  effect  an  affirmance.  It  was,  "If 
you  believe  he  (the  deceased)  did  it  himself,  why  of 
course  the  prisoner  is  not  guilty."  When  to  this  is 
added  the  general  instruction  that  the  burden  of  prov- 
ing the  guilt  of  the  prisoner  beyond  a  reasonable 
doubt  remains  upon  the  Commonwealth  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  the  trial. 

If,  therefore,  the  jury  adopted  the  theory  of  suicide, 
or  if,  being  unable  to  adopt  it,  they  were  yet  unable  to 
accept  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  the  theory  of  mur- 
der, in  either  event  they  were  told  the  verdict  should 
be  not  guilty.  This  fully  guarded  the  rights  of  the 
prisoner,  even  if  it  be  conceded  that  a  categorical 
affirmance  of  the  point  would  have  been  in  better  form. 

This  brings  us  naturally  to  the  tenth  assignment  of 
error  which  denies  tlie  clearness  and  adequacy  of  the 
exposition  by  the  learned  Judge  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
reasonable  doubt.  The  passage  from  the  charge  em- 
bodied in  the  assignment  of  error  is  the  least  important 
part  of  the  instruction  given  to  the  jury  upon  this  sub- 
ject, and  does  not  fairly  represent  the  learned  Judge. 
He  said  in  immediate  connection  with  the  passage 
complained  of :  "  In  all  criminal  cases,  gentlemen,  it  is 
essential  that  the  defendant  shall  be  convicted  by  evi- 
dence which  persuades  the  jury  of  the  guilt  of  the 
prisoner  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  By  a  reasonable 
doubt  I  do  not  mean  an  obstinacy  or  a  resolution  not 
to  consider  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  carefully. 
But  it  is  that  condition  of  the  mind  in  which  hesitancy 
arises  after  having  given  the  evidence  a  fair  consider- 
ation, and  you  find  yourself  unable  to  come  to  a  con- 
clusion as  to  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner."  This  was  a 
full  and  adequate  presentation  of  the  subject.  Take 
the  passage  embodied  in  the  assignment  in  connection 


500      THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

with  that  we  have  just  given  (and  they  stand  in  imme- 
diate connection  in  the  charge)  and  it  is  apparent  that 
the  prisoner  has  no  just  ground  of  complaint  because 
the  doctrine  of  the  reasonable  doubt  was  not  fully 
stated  and  brought  into  sufficient  prominence. 

The  remaining  assignment  is  to  the  whole  charge, 
which,  it  is  insisted,  was  wanting  in  clearness,  was  not 
impartial,  but  was  calculated  to  prejudice  the  minds 
of  the  jurors  against  the  prisoner  by  giving  undue 
prominence  to  such  circumstances  and  considerations 
as  were  hurtful  to  him.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  defendant  called  no  witnesses.  The  evidence  be- 
fore the  Court  and  jury  was  only  that  of  the  Common- 
wealth, which  had  been  gathered  together  for  the  pur- 
pose of  clearing  up  the  mystery  surrounding  the  death 
of  Pitezel  and  fixing  responsibility  for  it  upon  the 
prisoner.  His  real  reliance  was  upon  the  reasonable 
doubt.  The  web  of  circumstantial  evidence  that  had 
been  woven  about  him  consisted  of  many  threads,  but 
the  web  taken  as  a  whole  was  strong. 

It  was  impossible  for  the  learned  trial  Judge  to  pre- 
sent the  case  to  the  jury  in  an  intelligent  manner  with- 
out the  strength  of  the  circumstantial  evidence  being 
felt.  This  was  not  due  to  the  rhetoric  of  the  learned 
Judge,  for  he  indulged  in  none.  It  was  due  to  the 
convincing  character  of  the  facts  and  circumstances 
themselves,  and  to  the  completeness  with  which  an 
adroitly  arranged  and  badly  executed  scheme  had 
been  unravelled  by  the  Commonwealth,  and  its  detail 
laid  before  the  Court  and  jury. 

"We  have  examined  this  charge  as  a  whole  carefully, 
and  with  a  view  to  the  question  raised  by  this  assign- 
ment, and  we  cannot  agree  that  it  is  inadequate  or  that 
it  is  wanting  in  fairness  of  spirit.  The  evidence  was 
reviewed,  for  the  benefit  of  the  jury,  with  reference  to 
its  bearing  upon  the  great  questions  submitted  to  them 
for  final  determination.  These  were  stated  in  their 
proper  order : 


THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT.      501 

First.  Was  the  body  that  was  found  in  the  Callow- 
hill  Street  house  the  body  of  B.  F.  Pitezel?  This 
seemed  to  be  quite  clear  of  any  difficulty. 

Second.  If  the  body  was  that  of  Pitezel,  did  his  death 
result  from  chloroform  poisoning  ?  This  was  asserted 
as  a  fact  by  the  medical  witnesses,  and  was  assumed 
by  the  prisoner  in  his  statement  to  Superintendent 
Linden. 

Third.  If  Pitezel  died  from  chloroform  poisoning, 
was  the  poison  self-administered,  with  suicidal  intent, 
or  was  it  feloniously  administered  by  the  prisoner? 
This  was  the  only  real  point  of  controversy. 

Finally,  was  there  upon  the  whole  case  a  reasonable 
doubt  of  the  prisoner's  guilt  of  the  murder  charged  in 
the  indictment  ? 

This  review  was  not  elaborate,  but  it  was  adequate. 
It  presented  the  questions  of  fact  clearly,  and  laid  down 
the  legal  rules  by  which  the  jury  should  be  guided  in 
investigating  and  determining  them.  "We  are  satisfied 
that  this  assignment  is  without  merit  and  that  it  should 
be  overruled. 

The  defendant  had  a  fair  trial,  and  that  is  all  he  has 
a  right  to  demand.  At  one  stage  of  the  trial  he  was 
placed  perhaps  at  a  disadvantage  for  a  short  time  by 
his  own  conduct  in  dismissing  his  counsel  and  assum- 
ing the  responsibility  of  conducting  his  own  defence; 
but  the  Court  was  in  no  sense  responsible  for  this. 
The  prisoner  and  his  counsel  were;  and  the  learned 
Judge  did  all  that  could  reasonably  be  done  to  protect 
him  from  himself,  as  well  as  to  secure  to  him  a  fair 
trial,  upon  evidence  restricted  to  circumstances  of  the 
admissibility  of  which  there  was  no  reasonable  doubt. 
In  no  respect  has  any  just  ground  of  complaint  been 
made  to  appear,  and  the  judgment  must  be  affirmed. 

It  may  be  well  before  concluding  this  case  to  say  that 
the  object  of  a  trial  before  a  jury  is  to  ascertain  with 
as  much  certainty  as  can  be  attained  in  a  human  tri- 
bunal the  guilt  or  innocence  of  one  charged  with  crime. 


502      THE  DECISION  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT. 

When,  as  the  result  of  such  a  trial,  a  verdict  has  been 
reudered  against  the  prisoner,  it  ought  not  to  be  set 
aside  by  the  trial  Judge,  or  by  proceedings  in  a  Court 
of  Error,  unless  in  some  essential  particular  the  trial 
has  been  erroneous.  No  merely  technical  or  formal 
objection  not  affecting  the  result  should  be  listened  to. 
It  is  neither  for  the  credit  of  the  Courts,  for  the  inter- 
ests of  society,  nor  does  it  tend  towards  the  repression 
of  mob  violence  or  the  preservation  of  good  order,  that 
the  course  of  justice  should  be  blocked  or  turned  aside 
by  technical  objections  which,  however  valuable  they 
may  once  have  been,  are  now,  and  long  have  been, 
empty  shells;  or  by  verbal  distinctions  that  in  this  age 
mark  no  real  differences.  The  prisoner  has  been  found 
guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree  by  a  jury  after  a 
protracted  and  a  fair  trial.  No  substantial  error  in  that 
trial  has  been  pointed  out.  The  evidence  fully  sustains 
the  verdict  and  we  are  not  disposed  to  disturb  it.  All 
the  assignments  of  error  are  overruled  and  the  judg- 
ment appealed  from  is  affirmed. 


HV 


1 


f~ 


■!l 


